Satan is a liar. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then you have an enemy. I recently read of a reporter who was interviewing an old man on his 100th birthday. The reporter asked, “What are you most proud of?” The old man replied with, “Well, I do not have an enemy in the world.” The reporter said, “What a beautiful thought! How inspirational!” “Yep,” added the centenarian, “I outlived every last one of them.”
I just want you to understand that even if you reach the age of 100. You still will have an enemy. Why? Because your enemy isn’t going to die. Later he will be thrown into a bottomless pit for 1000 years. Later he will be cast into the lake of fire. I am talking about your spiritual enemy today. He is real. His name was Lucifer. We call him Satan. We call him the Devil. He is a real spirit being. He is not equal to God in any sense. He does have power and influence even though he is just a created being. The Bible calls him in Revelation 12:9-10 “the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world . . . the accuser”. In John 12:31 he is called “the ruler of this world” And in 2 Corinthians 4:4 he is called “the god of this age” Peter calls him your adversary the devil who roams about like a roaring lion.
I am going to tell you what he wants to do with every life. He is in the business of deceiving and destroying humanity. He is in the business or promoting sinful ways, sinful attitudes, and sinful lifestyles. He is in the bondage business. He doesn’t want you free…he wants you entangled. He does not want you or your family or your grandchildren to follow God. He wants you to doubt God and his goodness.
If Satan could have his way, every single one of us would live in bondage to the evil passions of our flesh. There is not a marriage in this room that would stand. He would destroy every positive relationship you have. He wants to mess up your kids, your finances, and your home. He would love to take your weakness…whatever that is and use it to destroy you.
If you are a believer in Jesus, you are engaged in warfare with him. In this article we will show you how to defeat Satan in your life. We will dismantle the enemy by understanding his strategies and his ways. Paul told the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 2:11 Amp we must know the Word and our enemy “to keep Satan from taking advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his schemes.”
Satan cannot take advantage of us, unless we are ignorant of his schemes. Satan is a liar. If you don’t know who Satan is. If you think he is playing. If you listen to his lies. If you think this is a game…he will take advantage of you. Everything we need to know about our spiritual life is found in the Word of God. We need to have that knowledge because we are in a war. Even in modern day warfare, a great deal of money and expense is given to understand how the enemy thinks, what they are up to, how they are going to attack, what their plan is. This knowledge helps them to win a physical battle. And knowledge about Satan will help us win a spiritual battle.
Satan is a liar. John 8:44 NIV says, “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” You can remember that by this funny little saying. Some speak Chinese, others speak Vietnamese, and Satan speaks lying with ease. It is his native language. Just like you speak English…he speaks lies.
Believing a lie will ultimately affect your behavior. Satan is a liar and he wants to affect your prayer life, how you live and how you react to things. I heard of some parents who told their kids lies to control their behavior:
One parent bought new tooth brushes for his sons and said these tooth brushes are connected to an app on my phone and it will tell me if you brushed your teeth and how good you brushed their teeth. How many of you think those kids did a better job brushing? The lie they believed affected their actions.
Another parent said that when an ice cream truck comes and it has music on, that means that they are out of ice cream. For two years the kids never asked for ice cream from the ice cream truck.
Seriously. What you believe is going to affect how you behave. That is where the battle starts. The one thing that Satan really doesn’t want you to do is to really understand how to pray for things and get answers. If he can keep you buffaloed he can keep you out of the game, out of the fight. He wins by default and that is why Satan is a liar he wants to affect your life.
Let me give you three lies the devil will give you. The reason why your prayer answers may be blocked is because you believe the lie that
- SATAN CAN ATTACK YOU ANY TIME HE WANTS AND HOWEVER HE WANTS.
Have you ever been to a testimony meeting and the lady gets up and she says, “The devil has been after me all week. He has been beating me up every day and in every way. Praise his name.” In fact, she says that every time she gets the opportunity. That woman obviously believes a lie. She thinks she is powerless against the devil. Let me give you some immediate truth to refute that lie. If you are under attack, it is because God believes that you can overcome Satan, and you can win.
Let me explain to you how this works in the spiritual world. You must understand that there are limits to what Satan can and cannot do. While he is known as the god (by the way small g) the god of this age. There is one by the name of Jehovah that reigns over every age. In fact, he is the creator of the ages.
God has Satan on a leash. He can go so far, but then God says that’s enough. We have to understand that the God that you and I serve is Sovereign. Especially when it comes to us as believers. Let me ask you a question. Are you a child of God? As a parent would you put your child in a place where they could not win? I hope not. Our heavenly Father gives us all we need to win. Here is another question: How did you raise your kids? Did you shield them from every difficulty? Did you keep them from every fight they ever had? I hope not, because if you did, they grew up sheltered and when they get into the real world look out.
I want to tell you a true story. Derek my son was about two and a half. He had a rock with a gold Sunday school star on it. A gold sticker shaped like a star on a rock. For a week he had carried it around and he loved it. And a neighborhood kid took it from him. The kid three doors down took it from him and he was about my other son Dustin’s age and size. Dustin told it to give it back and he said no. Dustin was about five. Well, Dustin came home upset because the boy had told him no. I said, just go back down there, and you tell him that if he doesn’t give it back, you are going to hit him and hit him hard.
I know you are thinking, why would you do such a thing? I am not teaching him to be a bully. I am teaching him, that people aren’t allowed to take your stuff. Well, why didn’t you as his father go down and get it? Because I am not always going to be there and I want my kids to be able to handle there own problems. Why not turn the other cheek? Listen there is more than one principle in the word. What about being a defender of the weak? This kid was a lot bigger than Derek.
Next thing you know Dustin went running down there screaming, “Give me Derek’s rock.” That kids mom came outside and made him give it back. I was watching. He didn’t have to hit anyone. The mom made him give it back and they shook hands. When Dustin came back he had a bit of swagger and a smile on his face, he felt like he won…I got his rock back. I knew that Dustin would gain a sense of confidence from the conflict. He was only five.
God allows conflict with the enemy in our lives. Why? So that we can know who we are. So that we can learn how to resist him. So that we can learn that God is behind us. Satan cannot just have his way with us.
In fact, if you study the book of Job, you will learn that Satan had to go ask permission from God to test and to try Job. The first two chapters of the book of Job are fascinating for anyone to read.
Satan appears before God in heaven. God says to him, “Where are you coming from?”
He replies, “from going to and fro on the earth and walking back in forth in it.”
God says, “Well have you seen my servant Job? There is none like him. He is blameless and upright, he fears God and he shuns evil.”
And the enemy says, “Why sure he does? Look at how you have blessed him. You have a hedge of protection around him. But if you remove that hedge, he will absolutely turn away from you. He will curse you to your face.”
But you see, God was a believer in Job. He said, ok, you can test Job. God told Satan, this far and no more. Job 1:12 “And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” You remember what happened. Job lost it all. But he stayed true to God. Later he got double for his trouble.
The same thing happened in chapter two. Satan appears before God again and accuses Job. He says, if I touch his body, he will curse you to your face. Job 2:6 “And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.” I don’t want to get into all that Job had to go through and what all that means.
But what you must see, is that Satan’s power is limited by God. Satan is on a leash
Even in the New Testament, Satan is on a leash, so that he can do no more than God permits. In effect, he must get permission — as in the case of Simon Peter, where Jesus says in Luke 22:31 “And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.”
The truth is God lets us go through stuff. As part of the human race you are going to face some giants in life. You are going to face some obstacles. In the end, your faith in God will prevail, and your faith will come tested and pure gold.
I read that the enemy comes in like a flood sometimes. The Word says, when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against it.
What happens if the enemy forms a weapon against me? The Word says, no weapon formed against me is going to prosper.
What if stuff happens that I don’t like? It is going to happen. But hear me. Nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Whatever you are facing today. God believes in you enough that he thinks you can win. He has given you his power and authority. And he wants you walking away knowing who you are who God is, and that Satan is a liar!
We look in the mirror and we see weakness and our inability. we think we think we can’t do it. I wonder what would happen if would start seeing ourselves like God sees us.? He sees you as capable. He sees you as strong. He sees you as able. He saw like you as I saw my son, able to handle the conflict and come out a winner.
And then there is a second lie I want to look at.
2. SATAN HAS THEM BLINDED SO THEY WILL NEVER SEE
If you are praying for some of your family or loved ones who don’t know Christ, Satan your enemy will tell you a lie based on a portion of scripture. If you remember Satan tried to twist scripture to even manipulate Jesus. Satan is a liar.
If you have been around Christianity for any length of time you have probably read or heard someone talk about or preach about or teach about 2 Corinthians 4:4 NIV “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
If we take that scripture alone and read it alone. It sounds pretty hopeless. It sounds like there is nothing God can do. It sounds like there is nothing we can do. The enemy will take that verse and pound it so deep into you. You will actually begin to believe a lie that you and God are powerless. If you love people it is hard to see their minds are blinded to truth and that they cannot see the light of the gospel.
What do we do for those who are bound in sins? What do we do for those who blinded by Satan? We know what the word says about eternity. We have real concerns. That is why Paul gives us this great encouragement in the next two verses. 2 Corinthians 4:5 “For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”
Preach Jesus!
What Paul is saying is that we are to just keep preaching Jesus. Paul said…we preach Jesus Christ as Lord. Every opportunity we have we should lift up Jesus as Lord. We are not to take our light and hide it under a bushel. If Jesus is lifted He will draw all men unto himself. Don’t get an argument. I am not saying cram Jesus down someone’s throat. But in everyday conversation, give him glory. Preach Jesus.
Serve Them!
And continue to serve them. It says “ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake.” Do what we can to help them. Do what we can to care about them. Paul said, ourselves as your servants. Serve your loved ones. Invite them to dinner. Go on an outing together. Let them see the joy you have in Christ as you serve them.
Remember how you came to Christ.
Paul tells us that we are to remind ourselves of our conversion to Jesus. Is there anyone reading this whose mind used to be blinded? At one point you couldn’t see the light of the gospel? How did God break through to you?
Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 4:6 NIV “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”
He made his light shine in our hearts! What he did for us he can do for others. Two powerful thoughts:
First, If God can heal blinded eyes. Can he not heal a blinded mind?
Secondly, since when can the darkness resist the light? Not only did God command light to shine. But he created the light in the first place. The same God who said Let light shine out of darkness, is the same God who sent his Son to die for that loved one of yours. But we have to be thoroughly convinced that God can save someone. You can take the most hardened sinner, and if you give them the right circumstances, the right witness, the right situation, they will come to Jesus. We have to trust God to do that.
What is my job? It is to pray. It is to thank God. It is to believe and not doubt that Holy Spirit is able to convince men of sin. Don’t give up. The scriptures tell us, “This promise is unto and to your children…” Acts 16:31 “They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.”
Remember Satan is a liar!
Your family will come to Christ as we prevail in prayer.
3. YOU AREN’T HOLY ENOUGH TO HAVE YOUR PRAYERS ANSWERED
Satan is very predictable in what he says to people. Before you give your life to Christ, he tells you:
You are as good as anyone else.
You may have made a few mistakes.
You haven’t sinned against God.
You haven’t killed anyone.
What do you need Jesus for?
The minute you get saved, the devil, your accuser changes his tactic. He will start reminding you of everything that you ever did in your past:
Why should God listen to you? When you pray, he will come into your mind and tell, there is no way God is listening to you, you must crazy if you think that he is really going to answer you. Satan is a liar and he will tell you:
You are out of your mind!
You are too big of a sinner.
You are righteous enough.
You aren’t holy enough.
You haven’t lived a pure enough life.
You are really a giant no good for nothing mess.
You might as well stop praying.
Revelation 12:10 says that he is “…the accuser of our brothers…”
If you have repented, and turned away from your sinful life you are a son and a daughter of God. Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
We don’t come before God as second-class citizens! We come with confidence. What is our confidence in? What we have done? No. Our confidence is in the power of the shed blood of Jesus to wipe our sins away. The only way we can approach his throne is by the blood of Christ that covers us.
It is not our holiness, but His righteousness that has imputed to us! So the next time Satan starts reminding you of your past. You just remind him of his future. Tell him you will be cast into the lake of fire. But I have redeemed by the blood of Jesus.
God answers prayer on the basis of faith, not on the basis of our self-righteousness. The enemy wants to destroy your faith. Remember Satan is a liar. He doesn’t want you believing that your prayers will be heard and answered. He would rather have you over in a corner feeling bad about all the things you did or did not do.
Forget the past. Focus on the promise. It is according to our faith. That phrase is found over and over again in scripture. It doesn’t say…according to your own personal righteousness and holiness.
Jesus is saying yes to you today! 2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”
Don’t allow your behavior to be affected by Satan’s lies. Remember, Satan is a liar! If you are going through tough times under enemy attack, it is because God believes you will stand in faith. If you are fighting for your children and loved ones to be saved, remember, Satan does not have the last Word, God does. And you are His child, so lets keep the pressure on the enemy today and keep up our prayer lives.
This is awesome teaching. The Lord bless you sir.
Thank you for your encouragement.
Bob