Winning against the Devil

 Many people do not even believe in the devil. These do not believe the Bible because the Bible clearly teaches that there is a real devil who is the enemy of all mankind. The devil is also our personal enemy and we will never have a victorious life until we defeat the devil in our lives.

 The following scriptures tell us some things about the devil. He is our adversary. He seeks people to devour. He sets traps to ensnare people. He is a crafty and deceptive foe. We are in a spiritual battle with him and his wicked cohorts.

Ø       1 Peter 5: ⁸Be sober, be vigilant; ^£because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹Resist him, steadfast in the faith…

Ø       1 Tim. 3:7 & 2 Tim2:26  Speak of a “snare of the devil”

Ø       Eph. 6: ¹¹Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹²For 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.

 The following scriptures tell us something about the devil’s power. He has power to cause people tribulation and testing. He has power to oppress people with both mental and physical sickness, disease and death.

Ø       Rev. 2: ¹⁰Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Ø       Acts 10: ³⁴Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. ³⁵But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. ³⁶The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—… ³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

 The greatest tactic the devil uses in his war against us is deception. Revelation 12:9 says he deceives the whole world.

Rev. 12: ⁹So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

2 Cor. 11: ³But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the ^£simplicity that is in Christ.

 Jesus gave some great advice to some new believers who were following him one day.

John 8: ³¹Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. ³²And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

 The first step to winning against the devil is recognizing none of us know all the truth. We only know the truth “in part” as the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:12. This leaves us susceptible to the deceptions of the devil.

 The problem with deception is that when we are deceived we do not know it. Deception means I think I am right when I am wrong. There is no cure for deception as long as we hold our understanding of truth to be truth.

 We can only hope in winning against the devil and deception if we do the following:

1. We must be willing to question our own understanding of any “truth” that we have come to believe. We cannot be sure that our enemy, the devil, has not tainted our understanding of our “truth.”
2. We must set a standard for truth that is above our own understanding. For the Christian, our standard must be the Bible as God interprets it to us. Some have said you can take the Bible and prove anything by taking verses individually and out of context.  That is exactly what most of us have done to support our understanding of truth. To correct this problem we must refuse to depend on our own reasoning to know the truth and rely upon God to reveal truth to us.

 Proverbs 3:5-10 says these things in a clear and concise way. It also gives promises to those who will discover and follow God’s truth.

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall ^£direct your paths. ⁷ Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. ⁸ It will be health to your ^£flesh, And strength^£ to your bones. ⁹ Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; ¹⁰ So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.

3. Finally we must be willing to quickly discard our understanding of truth when God gives us His revelation. Many times our problem is not in knowing the truth but in obeying the truth.

 Take the Proverbs passage above. Are you trusting in the Lord with all your heart by honoring the Lord with your possessions and the firstfruits of your increase? If not, you are clearly in deception and are living in disobedience to God. You are clearly loosing your battle with the devil.

 Many would say, “But I cannot afford to give a tenth of my income to God.” Obviously these people do not believe the promise of plenty for those who obey. These people are leaning on their own understanding of truth. They are living in deception. The Devil is winning in their lives.

 You might say, “But Pastor, why do you focus on money to illustrate the deception in most people’s lives.” I would answer that Jesus used money as a primary measurement of truth in ones life. Listen to some of the things Jesus had to say about money.

 Matt 6: ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Luke 16: ¹⁰“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. ¹¹So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? ¹²And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

¹³“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

 Jesus understood that the way people handle money measured the truth in their life. What you do with your money shows what you really believe.

 Now, are you ready to start winning against your adversary the devil? Start with your money. Start obeying God. Don’t lean on your own understanding any longer in this matter or you will be doomed to more and more deception by the devil and you will never win in this life.

 Once your money is under God’s authority you will be amazed at how God will begin to teach you more and more real truth about life. He will show you the truth and the truth will make you FREE!!

 (NOTE: Are you overflowing with money, joy, and fulfillment? If not, why not admit that the truth by which you have been living your life has not worked. Throw it out and let God start teaching you His way of life. It will bring prosperity in every area of your life.)