I’m
Guilty; Yet Loved
2
Cor 2:10-11 To whom ye forgive any
thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for
your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; 11 Lest Satan should get
an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
Zech
3:1-10 And he shewed me Joshua the high
priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right
hand to resist him. 2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD
rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is
not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
3 Now Joshua was clothed with
filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
4 And he answered and spake unto
those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him.
And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee,
and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
5 And I said, Let them set a
fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed
him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by. 6
And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying, 7
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou
wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep
my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by. 8
Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit
before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my
servant the BRANCH. 9 For behold the stone that I have laid before
Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving
thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land
in one day. 10 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall
ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.
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Being
raised in a pastor’s home, I have seen quite a few people make spiritual
transitions in their life. I’ve seen
God change people that you and I would have never picked to be the most on fire
for God suddenly blaze to life in the Spirit.
I have also seen the people who seemed to have the most knowledge and be
the most spiritually astute suddenly be deceived by a trap of Satan and lose out
with God. In each case, I have always
been left with the haunting feeling of deja-vu, as if I’ve seen this
before. And really I have. Because everytime someone goes through a
spiritual transition, (suddenly become on fire for God, or suddenly become NOT
on fire for God) they always follow the same patterns. The wise man Solomon said it like this:
Eccl
1:9-10 The thing that hath been, it is
that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and
there is no new thing under the sun.
10 Is there any thing whereof it
may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was
before us.
There
is nothing new under the sun. We have a
generation of teenagers that think yo-yos and bell-bottom blue jeans are the
latest thing. But they’ve been around
for years, and have just come back again.
The last few shirts that I have bought, have been made of
Polyester! There is nothing new, just
the same old things repeating themselves over and over again, and it also
applies to the traps and the tricks of Satan.
You may live 70-80 years if you take good care of your body, eat right,
and honor your Father and Mother, but that is still not long enough to make
every mistake yourself! What goes
around comes around. God’s Word is a
collection of stories of people’s lives recording their victories and
mistakes. For every situation in your
life, there is a Biblical parallel. We
need to learn from them: If you find
yourself having to choose between being faithful to God or being cast into the
persecution of a lion’s den, Choose God!
Just like He delivered Daniel, He will deliver you!
Some
people spend their life as dancers doing what I call the “church-hop.” They’re always looking for the latest
spiritual fad, or the newest preacher personality. The world now is looking for the latest spiritual high, a unique
experience so they can say that they have something “new” in God. But, let the fads come and go, and by doing
so they show you that they are not of God.
Everything constantly changes in the world except Jesus Christ. You can look for a new thrill, but the only
thing that will ever satisfy you is a relationship with Jesus Christ. You can try to justify a “new style of
living” all you want, but true happiness and contentment will only come with
living God’s life style. You don’t need
the latest religious symbol, you need an old Rugged Cross. You don’t need some new man-made ritual that
will supposedly bring internal peace, you need true repentance and the blood of
Jesus washing you clean through water baptism.
You don’t need some new high or thrill, but you need the cleansing fire
of the Holy Ghost to fall upon you and consume your being, your will, and your
intellect! Let the fads come and go,
I’ll take Jesus, and a Godly lifestyle, for only He can make me really happy!
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The
more things change the more things stay the same. Paul reminded the church in Corinth in our text: “don’t think that Satan has an advantage
over you, for we are not ignorant of his devices.” I’m amazed how that Satan can get people to fall for the same
trap over and over again. How many of
you have ever caught yourself doing something and you get a dreadful feeling
realizing that you’ve just done the same stupid sin that you thought you’d
conquered? Why do we do that? Could it be that some of us are ignorant to
his devices? Let me point out a few of
Satan’s devices from our battle manual, God’s Word.
The
first time in scripture that Satan is mentioned is in the Garden of Eden. Satan came to Eve in the form of something
very familiar to her, one of the animals a serpent, and simply asked a question
that questioned her knowledge of God’s Word.
God had said that you can eat of every tree EXCEPT the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. But Satan
asked in Genesis 3: 1 “Didn’t God say ye can eat of every tree?”!! Satan has always worked through a partial
knowledge of God’s Word. It is one of
his devices. Even today Satan doesn’t
care if you obey SOME of God’s Word, as long as you don’t obey ALL of God’s
Word. That’s why you have so many
churches that do not teach EVERY principle in God’s Word, and that’s why you
have so many people that just except whatever tradition they have been taught
as the Gospel truth and never bother to go to the source. Eve never bothered to ask God exactly what
He had said but just took Adam’s Word for it.
In doing so we find that she added something to it: she believed that if she touched the fruit
that she would die, but God did not add that stipulation, He only said in the
day that thou eatest therof thou shalt surely die! Because Eve just took somebody’s word for what God had commanded,
she was deceived and lost out with God.
Don’t be ignorant concerning Satan’s devices, and just take somebody’s
word or just one scripture for what you’ve got to do to be saved, but you
better take EVERYTHING that God has commanded for you to do! The Apostle Peter wrote this
2
Pet 1:20 Knowing this first, that no
prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
Some
people want you to believe that everybody has their own interpretation of the
scripture and it doesn’t matter which you believe as long as you obey “part of
the scripture.” But that is Satan’s
main device is to get you to know only part of what God has commanded. Scripture is of no private
interpretation. There are not many
paths to heaven but only one path to heaven.
Jesus didn’t say that I am the WayS, the truthS, and the lifeS, but
instead said “I am the WAY.” There is
only one way to heaven and it is obeying all of Jesus’ commandments. Don’t make the same mistake that Eve did and
take someone else’s words for what you have to do, make sure you have obeyed
ALL of Jesus’ commandments!
By
Contrast with the first Adam, the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, was also tempted
of Satan. Satan also came to Jesus
quoting part of what God had said, but Jesus responded by quoting to Satan
EXACTLY what the Scripture had said.
Jesus responded to temptation by the Word of God! Satan said “Isn’t it written that the angels
shall bear thee up lest thou dash your foot against a stone?” Then IF you’re the Son of God, cast yourself
from the temple top. Jesus responded
that “It is written, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” Jesus understood that the Word of God is of
no private interpretation and pointed out the fallacies of the lies presented
by Satan by quoting other scriptures on the subject. Satan was able to deceive Eve because she took somebody’s word
for it, but Jesus had learned and been taught the scriptures so that He could
combat with the Word!
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Another
time that Satan is mentioned is when Peter tries to rebuke Jesus for talking
about how that he must suffer the cross and be killed and rise again. Jesus turned to Peter and told him “get thee
behind me Satan.” Peter was falling for
one of Satan’s devices. That there can
be salvation without the cross, redemption without the application of the
blood, and Godly living with no hardships or persecution. Even today people are still falling for this
device. They want Christianity without
dying a spiritual death to self will.
The blessings without the persecution.
The cleansing without the blood of Jesus. The Spirit without the submission to Spirit-filled
authority. There is no shortcuts to
this experience! If you make it to
heaven it will be because of a cross experience not despite of it! It will be because you chose to apply the
blood of Calvary to your life through water baptism in His name, not through
osmosis. And when you make it, it will
be because you were willing to give up your will for your life and submit to
God’s plan. You will have made it
because of the persecution not despite the persecution! God has always used persecution and
hardships and trials and storms to mature the child of God, and He’s not going
to stop His plan for you! Don’t gripe
about the valley because it’s the valley that gives you the strength to climb
the mountain! Stop worrying about the
storm and trust the one who controls all storms! Don’t let Satan tell you that God doesn’t love you just because
everything is not rosy. That’s a good
sign that God does love you, because He loves you enough not to allow you to
stay the same old way you’ve been, and He loves you enough to provoke you to
change. When the clouds start hanging
low, that’s a sign that God loves you enough to orchestrate your life! Some people pray for “God change my
situation” and then when the storm comes, we begin to pray “God remove the
storm.” and God says “Which one of the prayers am I supposed to answer?” Rain is a sign that God is answering your
prayer for new growth!
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One
of the most popular devices of Satan, we find in the story of Judas. Jesus wasn’t managing the money quite like
Judas thought that He should. In fact
in John chapter 12, we find that Mary took a pound of costly ointment and used
it to anoint the feet of Jesus with her hair.
{Read verse 4-6 below}
John
12:3-6 Then took Mary a pound of
ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped
his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the
ointment. 4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son,
which should betray him, 5 Why was not
this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? 6 This
he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had
the bag, and bare what was put therein.
Judas
was mad because God’s plans didn’t correspond with his own motives! Later we find that Judas, when faced with
having to either change his motives to fit God’s, or changing allegiances,
chose to sell out God for his priorities.
To Judas money was more important than his relationship with God, and
because of this the scripture records in John 13:27 “Satan entered into him”
and caused him to betray his saviour.
How many people like to be called righteous and Christian, but if the
Plan of God goes against their priorities, they sell out God. Thirty pieces of silver isn’t a whole lot
for losing your relationship with God, but it was the principle of what Judas
was doing. Thirty pieces of silver fit
his plan for his life better than persecution, a bloody cross, and dying out to
self-will. And so Judas fell.
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Time
would fail us to thoroughly list all of Satan’s devices but you should study
them on your own so that you are not ignorant of them. In Acts chapter 5, Annanias and Sapphira
lied to the men of God and the Holy Ghost and did not give God everything, thus
falling for the same trap and fate as Judas.
In Chronicles chapter 21, Satan provoked King David into pridefully
counting the people so that he could tell people how great a king that he was. David fell for the same trap that Satan
himself fell into while he was still the anointed cherub worshipping God: Pride.
Ezekiel 28 tells us that Satan became lifted up and decided that he was
so great that he needed praise, and not God.
The Bible teaches us in Proverbs 16:18 that:
Prov
16:18 Pride goeth before destruction,
and an haughty spirit before a fall.
The
devil always tries to bring down the saints by getting them to think higher of
their position than the one who gave them the position. The scripture says in Psalms 119:165:
Ps
119:165 Great peace have they which
love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
Show
me somebody who is easily offended and I’ll show you someone filled with
pride! The only times in my life, that
I get offended by someone is when I’m thinking more of myself and my motives
than of God’s! Want to have great
peace? Submit yourself to God, and get
rid of pride! Pride is what caused
Satan’s very downfall, and he especially takes pleasure in prideful
people. If you are offended easily by
your brothers and sisters then you need to change your motives!
Don’t
fall for Satan’s traps, he uses the same ones over and over again. But we should not be ignorant concerning his
devices! If you fall, then get up and
learn from your mistake. Learn the
Word, and learn how Satan tries to attack you.
If you stay within God’s Word you can make it!
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John
8:44 teaches us that Satan is a liar and the father of lies! Satan’s approach is very subtle,
however! He always presents sin like a
fisherman presenting bait to a trophy bass.
He makes it look appetizing and makes it seem like what you really want,
what you must have is what he is giving.
Satan is the master salesman because the majority of the world has bought
into his product. Think back to a time
when you have fallen to temptation and willfully sinned. You thought about it. It seemed like the action took over your
thought process and all you could think about was that action that you were
being tempted to do. Satan quoted God’s
Word to Eve in such a way to get her to thinking about the fruit that she was
forbidden. He managed to get her eyes
off of all the other fruit that God had given her and focus on the one thing
she wasn’t supposed to do. He glamorized
the unGodly lifestyle as being what she wanted! The scriptures then say that Eve saw that the fruit was pleasant
to the eyes and good for food. The
devil always glamorizes sin and makes it look pleasant to the eyes, and seem
good for you! Notice the steps of the
deception of Eve and apply them to the time that you willfully sinned. She got her eyes off of everything that she
could partake of, and became focused on the can’ts of God. She took somebody else’s word for what God
had said. She then began to look upon
the fruit and fantasize about partaking of it.
She then became very familiar with the forbidden sin. She took the fruit in her hand and got a
closer look. She then gave in and,
expecting the lies of what Satan had told her would take place to happen,
disobeyed God’s Word! These are still
the steps of deception today, Focus on what God has forbidden rather than on
what God has given, Justify your action throught the twisting of God’s Word,
Fantasize and familarize yourself with the forbidden, and then partake of
it.
What
Satan doesn’t tell you is what happens next.
Satan did not run away from Eve after she and Adam ate the fruit. He then stayed around and waited for God to
get there. That is because Satan loves
to gloat in the guiltiness of the human race.
When God got to the scene and passed out judgment at the end of Genesis
chapter 3, Satan was still hanging around.
Why? Because the moment Eve gave
in to the temptation, Satan went from acting like her best friend to becoming
her accuser! Revelation 12:10 calls
Satan the accuser of the bretheren, because Satan likes to accuse us to
God. Satan specializes in condemnation. While you were giving into temptation, you
felt great, but after you willfully sinned, then God’s Word comes to your mind
and condemnation suddenly consumes you, and you feel horrible.
Rom
8:1 There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit.
That
Condemnation does not come from God, but it comes from Satan. He was the one making you feel great while
dangling the temptation in front of you, and then he becomes the accuser of you
after you have committed the act! God
knows all things, but even if He didn’t, Satan would be sure and tell Him when
you and I gave into temptation, because he is the accuser of the brethren! You can live without condemnation by ceasing
to willfully sin, and walk after the Spirit!
Job
chapter 1 is the familiar story of Satan going into the throneroom of heaven
and asking permission to hurt Job.
Satan did not have anything to accuse Job of being guilty of, and that
bothered Satan. {briefly adlib the
story of Job} The point of this is that
Job would not curse God and give Satan anything to accuse him of. The thing that most people miss in the story
of Job is that Satan is not mentioned after the 2nd chapter. Satan didn’t wait around for the end of the
story because Job did not give in to the temptation and persecution and curse
God. Satan was around at the end for
Eve and Adam, but he didn’t want to discuss Job with God anymore! In the same manner, after Jesus combated the
temptation with the Word of God, Satan didn’t hang around! You want to get rid of the devil, then don’t
give in to his devices! When you fall
into temptation, that’s when he hangs around!
YOU can defeat Satan, though!
Let me show you how:
Rev
12:10-11 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. 11 And they overcame him by
the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not
their lives unto the death.
There
are three keys to overcoming the Devil, and you have all of them available to
you. They are:
1. By the Blood of the Lamb. When you are baptized in Jesus’ name, then
you get a fresh start, and all your sins are covered in the Blood of
Jesus. But most of us fall and sin
after we have been baptized, I know I have, so do we have to be
rebaptized? If not, then how do we
apply the blood of the Lamb to our sin.
The answer is of course found in God’s Word:
I
Jn 1:4-10 And these things write we
unto you, that your joy may be full.
5 This then is the message which
we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no
darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him,
and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the
light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the
blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in
us. 9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not
sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
A
true Repentant lifestyle is important in our walk with God!
2. The Word of their testimony. This doesn’t necessarily mean just gettin up
in church and testifying, even though that’s a part of it. Job never cursed or turned his back on
God. That’s why the devil didn’t hang
around at the end, for he had nothing to accuse Job of! Living a holy life before the Lord is one of
the most powerful ways to win victory over the devil. When everything is right between you and God, and you know it,
then it’s easy to combat condemnation!
3. They loved not their lives to their
deaths. We tend to skip this step to
overcoming the devil. The overcomers
did not allow anything to come between their relationship with God! They were willing to totally submit and die
out to God’s Will. Some of you are sick
of hearing me preach about submission, but it’s the key to Christianity and the
kingdom of God. It’s also the key to
getting victory over the devil.
James
4:5-8 Do ye think that the scripture
saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? 6
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud,
but giveth grace unto the humble. 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist
the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will
draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye
double minded.
Satan’s
the accuser of the brethren. When you
break the Word of God, Satan automatically quotes the word of God to you and
God and reminds God of the punishment that should come! {expound}
That is why the Word says in II Corinthians 3:6 that the letter killeth
but the spirit giveth life! Everyone of
us are guilty and deserving to the punishment of God because we have all failed
God, but the Spirit of God can change all of that!
For
my final thought, turn to Zechariah chapter 3.
{Explain
the literal meaning of the vision and how that it applies to you and I
today. We are all guilty of the devil’s
accusation but we are loved, because the devil did not count on God’s unconditional
love toward Joshua!}
The
Letter killeth but the Spirit bringeth life!