Hello, what a joy I have to welcome you to our Bible study program, In Search of the Lord's Way. I’m Mack Lyon. Our Message today is titled, “The Battle for the Soul.” Stay tuned.
Warmest greetings to you friend. We’re so very glad you have chosen to be with us In Search of the Lord's Way to be saved, and to live the Lord’s Way, the best way ever introduced to the family of man. Phil Sanders will speak to us today about “The Battle for the Soul.”
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Every person is engaged in a battle with the devil for his eternal soul. That means each of us should become informed of the schemes of the devil, and those that he uses to overcome us. The Scripture warns against remaining ignorant of his schemes. This message is designed to help you acquaint yourself with his devices so as not to fall into his snares. Ken Helterbrand is going to lead us now in a hymn, and then Phil Sanders will come and read Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 to 13.
Hello! I’m Phil Sanders. I am delighted you have joined our Bible study today. Today’s scripture reading comes from Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 through 13. “Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” That is reading from the book of Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 to 13. Let’s pray together. O Lord, we are grateful for your word, for its teaching, for its encouragement, and for its warnings. Help us, Father, to devote ourselves wholly to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Friend, thanks so much for being with us today. We are at war with the devil, and the devil is a really tough opponent. He has had many centuries to find our weaknesses so that he can defeat us. This battle is a personal one, like a fight between two armed soldiers. At the end of a fight in ancient times, one soldier was standing and the other was dead. The battle was much like a wrestling match, where two people were physically and personally involved eye to eye. You can’t pass this battle off to somebody else; you have got to face the devil yourself. He has watched you and knows your strengths and weaknesses. And he will use every trick in the book to defeat you. He has no qualms about cheating, lying, or using dirty tricks to win. He is serious about defeating you and he intends to win.
The spiritual battle is not just for your life; it is for your soul and the souls of your loved ones. It’s the most important conflict that you will ever face. And if you are not aware that you are in a fight, you will surely lose. If you don’t have the will to fight, you will most certainly lose. If you are not prepared to fight, you will forfeit your soul. If you fight but do not give it all you have, you cannot win. Your enemy, the devil, wants your soul; and he will do anything to get it. If that means trickery, he will lie. If that means twisting God’s word around to suit his purposes, he will do it. If that means pretending to be religious so he can fool you, be sure that he will.
The apostle Paul was particularly interested that people believe and hold to the truth. And so he said in the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 2 to 4, “But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
Now, the devil blinds people to the truth, so that they will not know what is right and be saved. You see, when people leave the Word, that is the Bible, they leave the truth. So the devil likes to twist and tamper with the Bible. Now to tamper with the word of God is to distort it, to make it appear false by deception. And the goal of tampering is to leave the impression that the Word, the Bible, says something that it does not actually say. The person who uses God's word cunningly just to advance his agenda is in Paul's eyes disgraceful and underhanded.
Through the Scriptures, Satan's schemes and tricks follow a common pattern. If we know that pattern, we can prepare for Satan. Now Satan, first, loves to ask questions that create doubt in the Word of God. You’ll remember that in the Garden of Eden, the devil asked Eve, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” That is from Genesis 3, verse 2. Now, Satan knew what God had said; he didn't want information but he wanted Adam and Eve to question God. Doubt is always the first step to apostasy. The Devil will always give you all the reasons why you should not do the will of God. He wants you to forget doing things God’s way; to think for yourself; to do what you think is best for you. Well, by urging you to do what is self-focused, he gets you to go against God.
Satan, second, contradicts what God says. When Eve told Satan that she would die if she ate of that fruit, the devil said, "You shall surely not die" (Genesis 3 and verse 4). The devil has no qualms about lying to get his way. Satan always wants people to place their confidence in him, but not in God. He claims God has deceived you, that he knows what really is true; that is Satan knows what really is true. And this desire to know his secrets and to be one of the elite has led many unfortunate souls down the path to perdition. You see the devil appeals to the worst in people: he appeals to their flesh, their eyes, and their pride. He makes them feel God is holding them down and making life miserable.
Jesus told some Jews who followed Satan in John chapter 8, verse 44 that, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Now, all you have to do to lie is just to tamper with the truth just a little bit. Rat poison is 98% corn meal and 2% poison. Now if that were not mostly corn meal, the rat poison were not mostly corn meal, the rats wouldn’t eat it; but you see the two percent poison is enough to kill those rats. Even a little lie can keep you out of heaven.
Now, Satan will tell you what he thinks you want to hear. Eve was deceived by this lie; Adam was not. Adam knew that eating the fruit was wrong, but he went along with his wife. The devil likes to turn things upside down. He makes what is evil sound so good, and he makes what is good sound so bad. You remember that Isaiah said in Isaiah 5 and verse 20, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” Have you ever noticed in our society how anything that is righteous is labeled as ugly and boring, or hypocritical, while the things that are evil are often looked at as good and attractive and enticing? My friend, that’s the devil’s scheme.
Third, Satan produces an alternate version of "truth." You remember that he enticed Eve with these words: "God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3 and verse 5). The devil's alternate ways has a mix of truth with error. There is enough truth to sound persuasive, but his message is full of misrepresentations and distortions. Someone has said, "Add it all up and the bottom line is a big lie." Satan wants everyone to believe that he has a better way, that God is trying to fool you, that God is not your friend but is cheating you out of something really good. Satan’s strategy is to get people to rely upon him for real "progress." Oh, my!
Fourth, Satan despises and persecutes anyone who exposes him. Jesus explained in John 3, verses 19 and 20, “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and the people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” Jesus knew that if the world hated Him, it would also hate his disciples when they preach the truth about sin. You see, the devil loves to put down the church, and put down the truth of the Bible. You remember that the apostle Peter by inspiration said in 1 Peter 4 and verse 14 that, “If you are reviled (now the word reviled means to be talked ugly about) if you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory, he says, and of God rests on you.” My friend, the devil is a bully, he has always been a bully, but God sees everything and He will reward those who will trust and follow Him.
Fifth, Satan pretends to be holy. You remember the apostle Paul spoke about some deceivers in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verses 13 to 15. They pretended to be men of God, but they actually served Satan. He said, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.” And he says, “Their end will correspond to their deeds.” You know in order to deceive Christians and lead them into his “alternative” churches or religions; the devil pretends to be their Christian leader.
With high-sounding phrases, he tries to persuade people that Christianity is like a smorgasbord of ideas, from which you can pick and choose whatever doctrines you like. There are thousands of denominations in America, and each of these denominations teach different doctrines, they wear different names. It has become popular to follow some man’s ministry rather than listen to the Bible, the Word of God. My friend, when someone leads you away from the Bible, they are doing the devil’s work. He is the one who provides the heresies, that is doctrines that divide churches.
My friend, if you listen to the devil, you will come to believe that there is no such thing as heresy, that everybody’s views are as good as everybody else’s. You see, when you believe that, you have fallen into the trap of the devil. He tried to convince Eve to quit listening to God and to think for herself. But when people get away from the Bible and start listening to the reasoning of men, what happens is they fall prey to the devil’s scheme. Their eyes are blinded to the truth; and they begin to go their own way rather than God’s ways. I tell you what, God’s ways and man’s ways are not the same. You cannot ignore God’s Word, and not build your house upon sand; and then when you build your house on sand you can’t expect everything to be all right between you and God. Eve was deceived; she lost sight of God, and she did what she wanted. And if we are deceived, one of the things that happens to us is we lose sight of God, and then we begin to do what we want; and we, too, will have to face the consequences of sin.
Number six, Satan like to prey on the weak and the ignorant. Peter said in 1 Peter 5, verses 8 and 9, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.” Satan is looking for gullible people who will fall prey to his immoral lifestyle and to his disobedience to God. He uses false prophets and false churches as alternatives to the truth; and he whispers to our consciences that we can sin, we can do what we want to do, and we will not be hurt by it.
Well, no matter how attractive or how lovely Satan’s message is, the devil’s goal, and remember this, is your spiritual death. This is why you must resist him, firm in your faith. Pay close, close attention to the Bible, the Word of God. Keep your eyes focused on the cross. God has not left us alone to fight the devil. Paul said in Ephesians 6, verses 13 to 17, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Oh, my friend, these things will help you in your struggle: righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God. This armor will protect you from the devil’s weapons; it says but the sword of the Spirit, that is God’s Word; oh, I tell you that is a strong and formidable weapon. It has the truth that pierces hearts and souls. My friend, the best thing you can do to fight Satan is to know the Word of God. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4 and verse 4). We need the word of God in our lives, in our churches, and in our nation.
When people start doing what they want to do rather than listening to the Bible, you see the devil wins and they lose. My friend, what about your soul? Is the devil fooling you? If the Lord and His Word do not rule in your life, you will have a master who lies to you and who will take away your soul. My friend, let Jesus be Lord of your life. To become a Christian, believe with all your heart that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And out of love, repent of every sin. Confess Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God; and then be baptized or immersed in water in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins will be forgiven. Live the Christian life. Go to church regularly. The closer you are to God, the easier it will become to resist the devil. Do it for yourself, do it for those that you love. Your strong faith will lead others to place their faith in the Lord as well. Don’t let another day go by, till you have made your life right with the living God. Let’s pray. O Lord, help each one to come to You and put their faith in You, to love You and to serve You always, and to resist the devil. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
Thank you, brother Phil, for your good message about the devil’s devices. In spite of Jesus’ statement in John 8:24 that “You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free,” with many people there is no such thing as “absolute truth.” Phil, you’ve helped us to know it absolutely true, that “the truth” makes men “free.” Yes, thank you for making us aware of the devil’s scheming devices.
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