My God’s not dead … but neither is Satan

My God’s not dead … but neither is Satan

My God is not dead, He is alive … is so true. In fact it is a statement that we as Followers of Christ can live by … It is a statement that we can stand on.

Here is the problem … We know that the God we worship is alive and well, but we often forget to remember that his enemy … Satan … The Devil … whatever it is that you prefer to call him is not dead either. In fact he is very much alive and is working in this world each and every day.

In fact, at least sometimes, it is easier to see the work of Satan than it is to see the work of God, which is a shame. Yet think about it … How many people do you know who have problems with addictions to drugs, pornography and alcohol? How many people do you know who are having marital problems? How many people do you know who are tied up in a lot of things that aren’t of God? Well guess what? That is the work of Satan. That is Satan tempting those people to do things that go against the word of God, just as he tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden.

After God instructed Adam and Eve about not eating “from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” (Genesis 2:17 NIV) Satan came and tempted them. Eve listened to Satan's voice instead of saying, "Get thee behind me, Satan." (Luke 4:8 KJV) This is exactly the way the Devil works today. He comes to young people, new or weaker Believers and whispers to them to do this or do that, tempting them in things which are not right in the sight of God. Instead of turning aside they often listen to him speak.

So here is a warning for anyone … Don’t ever think that just because you worship a living God who wants the best for you … that you will not or cannot be tempted. In fact, you can probably sure that Adam and Eve thought that when they were walking in the Garden.

The truth is, the closer you get to God, the more that Satan is going to try to tempt you … Simply because he doesn’t want anyone becoming a warrior for the army of Christ.

In fact, Satan knows more about us that we know about ourselves … which means that he knows our weaknesses … which means he knows exactly where to tempt us. He isn’t going to tempt you with things that mean nothing to you … He is going to tempt you with whatever it is that you are going to be most likely to give into. Which means we always have to stand guard against him and his tactics.

Scripture tells us that “Stay alert! “Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. ” (1 Peter 5:8).

The great thing about temptation is the fact that God’s word clearly states that no Believer will ever be tempted by more than they can stand. It goes on to say that any time you are tempted, God will give us a way out, as long as we are willing to stand strong and look for it. “God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” (1 Corinthians 10) Unfortunately, we don’t always take His way out!

Someone once said, "You cannot stop a bird flying in your hair but you do not have to build a nest for him to stay in."

Remember this as well … Jesus came to be a perfect example of what we were to become … and during that time he was tempted my Satan. In fact, he was tempted multiple times during the 40 days he spend fasting in the wilderness. (Remember last week’s lesson – What We Can Learn in the Wilderness.) Yet we know he never gave in … and we can also learn a valuable lesson from his temptations. Know the Word of God!

Have you ever noticed how Jesus, our perfect example, stood up to Satan? He simply quoted scripture that went against whatever it was Satan was tempting him with? Maybe we should learn to do the same … of course we would have to know scripture in order to do that, but that isn’t all bad … in fact it’s a good thing.

Back to the Garden of Eden for a moment -- Satan, once the angel of light, deceived our first parents by questioning God's Word: He asked Eve, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1b) Are you sure this is what God says in His Word? Perhaps God did not say that after all. Perhaps He did not mean what He said! Hell may not even be a literal Hell. And certainly God could not mean for us to accept the Bible literally when it contradicts modern scholarship and scientific teaching! Yes, our Adversary the Devil is very much alive today and is working to destroy the authority of God's Word, the Bible.

The Devil is not terribly interested in leading men and women into gross sin as you might expect. He would be satisfied just to get person’s heart away from God. So he works in a special way in the realm of religion. He wants to substitute his own word for the Word of God. He wants men and women to be in subjection to him rather than to God. He substitutes his own lies for divine truth.

Satan knows the Bible and how he loves to quote Scripture in order to destroy faith. Remember how he tried to persuade Jesus to throw himself down from the temple roof? He argued from Scripture! He told Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you…..’ ” (Matthew 4:6)

Note this well! Satan does not always try to ruin faith by saying, “The Bible isn’t true;” he often tries to destroy our faith by affirming some passage and using it to lead us into disobedience.

All Christians get our “life” from God’s Holy Word. We will perish without it. We cannot let it be taken from us. We should be willing go to jail rather than stop reading it. So what does Satan do? His one aim is to destroy our faith. The Word of God alone keeps faith alive. But we cleave to it and Satan cannot tear it away. So he studies it. How else could he quote “scriptures” to Jesus in the wilderness? He studies it. And he studies how to distort it and pervert it by misinterpretations that kinda’ make sense to us. Especially when we are looking for the easy “way” to be a Christian! Yes, Satan’s distortions of God’s Word must be reasonable so that we are more easily led astray from the actual Word!

Jesus quoted Scripture against Satan’s use of Scripture. He knew the Bible better than Satan.

So what does this mean to us? 1) Do not believe everyone who can quote you a text. History is strewn with cults who twisted the Scriptures to their own destruction. Peter writes of some of Paul’s letters: “His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. (2 Peter 3:16). 2) Read widely in the Bible and ask yourself continually how this part fits with that part and that with this. It is when the pieces start to fit together that we are most secure from distortion. 3) Pray that God will open our eyes to see true and wonderful things in his Word. 4) Obey what you do understand and you will understand more.

So just remember … It is great news that Our God is not dead … but never forget that his evil enemy Satan is not dead either. He is surely alive, and he is living in order to try to get us as Christians to fall …

God's Not Dead by Newsboys:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghC3gqNQJPQ