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All of us are touched sometime in our lives by loved ones or others who
self-destruct before our eyes. We are distressed as we watch them ruin
their lives and the lives of those around them with their sin and
foolishness. We are perplexed because it seems so unnecessary and
uncalled for. Many times it is someone who has everything going for them
and could have had a happy, blessed life except for the sin to which
they have enslaved themselves. Why? How does this happen? And how in the
world can someone see it happen in the life of another and then fall
prey to the same thing themselves? These are the questions that most of
us spend a lot of time trying to find an answer for.
Part of the answer is that there is a devil who is roaming about seeking
whom he may devour. He is evil and his business is to destroy each and
every one of us. But the Bible tells us that we are not ignorant of his
devices.Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not
ignorant of his devices. 2 Cor. 2:11
He never changes his tactics, so it is quite easy to recognize him
when he shows up in your mind and life. He is a liar and a deceiver. In
John 8:44 Jesus said that the devil has no truth in him, was a liar from
the beginning, and is the father of lies.
Therefore, all we need to do is look at the beginning and we can see
clearly the pattern the devil always uses. It works so well he has seen
no need to change it in the 6000 years that man has lived upon this
earth. In spite of the fact that it is so clearly laid out for us to
see, and in spite of the fact that generation after generation has
fallen for the same trick, men and women keep on being snared by the
devil’s master plan.
It is very simple, really: a question and a lie – that’s it! All the
devil has to do is get you to question God’s Word and authority, and
while you are thinking about the question he gives you an answer, but it
is always a lie.
And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said…? Gen. 3:1
That’s all it took for sin to begin to enter into the world – just
four little words. That’s all it took to plant a seed of doubt about
God’s authority. Just the fact that someone would question it led Eve
down a line of thought she had never pursued before. While she was there
the devil provided an answer for her:
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: Gen.
3:4
It was an outright lie, but she bought it.
That is all it takes for anyone who will not resist the devil. If they
allow influences in their lives that cause them to question God’s Word,
and his authority, they will believe the lie that the devil immediately
provides for them. If they allow things around them that appeal to their
lusts they will inevitably find themselves asking the question: “What’s
really wrong with it?” Unless they flee the temptation and cling to the
anchor of God’s Word they will certainly embrace the answer provided by
the devil. He will eventually convince them that they can ignore their
conscience and God’s Word and get away with it.
Those in this world who live without regard for God or his Word are
living lives that are totally based on lies. Everything they have put
their hope in is a lie and they will find out when it is too late.
Everyone makes a decision about whether they will live their life after
God’s will or after their own desires. The question they have all asked
is, “Can I live my life the way I want to, leave God out, and be happy?”
The lie they have all believed is, “Yes, of course you can!” “Ye shall
NOT surely die.” “Nothing is going to happen!” “In fact, it will be much
better for you if you do it your way because God doesn’t have your best
interests at heart.”
No one ever starts taking drugs without first asking the question, “Can
I do this and get away with it?” No one ever commits adultery, steals
something, or commits any other sin without asking the same question.
Wake up! That is the devil putting that question in your thoughts, and
he is about to convince you that you can do it and get away with it –
but you CAN’T! God’s Word is true and He will judge you!
God says we must put Him first, but the devil says we don’t have to. God
says He will reject us if we do not put Him first, but the devil says
nothing of the sort will happen. Any preacher or teacher that even
implies that you can sin and get away with it is not a minister of
Christ, but a minister of Satan. That is a simple fact because this is
the devil’s signature. For the same reason, any doctrine or idea that
teaches or implies that you can sin and get away with it is not a
doctrine of God, but a doctrine of devils. Just to realize this truth
and obey it would clean up a big part of the mess we see in the churches
of our day. The light, flippant way that most of the Christian world
treats sin is a sure sign they have been lied to by the devil.
The question will always be presented to your mind as something noble.
The deceiver who placed it in your thoughts will convince you that your
motives are only to better yourself. You may even be convinced that you
will be better able to serve God by doing something that is warned
against in his Word. That is exactly what Eve believed when she took and
ate of the fruit. Many people through the years have told me that it is
all right to lie to the devil. Those who said that to me believed that
it was acceptable to lie in certain circumstances because it would
benefit the work of God more. These people have been lied to themselves
and don’t know it.
The answer provided by the father of lies will always be favorable to
your desires. You will enter into sin thinking you are going to get by
with it, and maybe even be better for it, but you are in for a terrible
awakening.
So next time your life is touched by someone who is destroying
themselves with their sin think about the fact that there was a time
when they asked a question and believed a lie. It opened up their mind
to demonic influence and to endless depths of despair and depravity. But
do not ever despair of the fact that there is hope. Jesus said:
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free. John 8:32
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is
truth. John 17:17
They have believed the devil’s lies – now if they will be saved and
delivered from their sin they must believe God. His Word is truth and
the only way out of the darkness of sin.
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe,
all things are possible to him that believeth. Mark 9:23
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