You Have A "Tell”

Open your Bibles to First Peter chapter five. We’re going to read verse eight.

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.”

The word “seeking” means “to seek with the intention of killing.” Now let that sink in. The devil wants to kill you. The word “devour” means “to swallow up as in drinking.” It’s almost like Peter is trying to drive home the point of how heinous the devil is.

Peter is clear about the devil’s intention for our lives. He wants to destroy us. First, he wants to do that spiritually. Secondly, he wants to that physically.

Now I want you to keep this verse in mind because we will see it verse again.

In the game of poker, players try to identify in other players what is known as a tell. A tell is a “change in a player’s behavior or demeanor that give clues to his assessment of his hand.” A player can gain an advantage if he observes and understands the meaning of a player’s tell, particularly if the tell is unconscious and reliable. Also keep this in mind.

In Matthew 4, we are introduced to Lucifer, the fallen angel mentioned in Isaiah 14, in a way that is both personal and deadly. Let’s read what Isaiah says about him first. Let’s read verses 12 through 15.

(12) How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

(13) For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

(14) I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

(15) Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Lucifer coveted his Creator’s seat of power and authority. We see this in his five “I will” statements. He still craves what belongs to God but knows he’ll never have it. So what does he do? He takes out his anger on God’s children. He looks for opportunities to humble us and to humiliate us. His end game: he wants us with him in the lake of fire.

Here in Matthew 4, we’re going to see two Greek words that describe how Lucifer functions in the world and how he comes against Christians. Let’s begin with verse one.

“Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.”

Matthew identifies him first as the devil. In the Greek it’s the word “diabolos” and it means “the one who falsely accuses and divides people without any reason.” This is the primary way he operates. He deceives and divides families and relatives and friends with lies and half truths. Are we not seeing this on full display right now in our country? And I’ll say this again child of God – you…are…the…target.

The accuser “points a finger” at our shortcomings and he often does it through our past. Look at Revelation 12:10.

“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”

One way “the accuser of our brethren” attacks us is by using our past to convince us that getting born again really didn’t change who we used to be. Let me give you an example.

A father wants to remind his adult son that being intimate with his girlfriend before marriage is a sin. But when he picks up the phone to call him, the accuser whispers in his ear “Didn’t you do the same thing? So why is it a sin when he does it but not when you did it?” The accuser is trying to guilt the father into hanging up the receiver and remaining silent.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is happening every day in Christian homes in our country. Parents are being guilted into silence because the “finger pointer” makes them feel that their past has caught up with them. But we have a Father who loves us and forgives us when we repent of our sins. Psalm 103:12 says

“As far as the east is from the west, So far hath He removed our transgressions (against Him) from us.”

Now, let’s go back to Matthew. Let’s read verse 10.

“Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”