Dave’s Monday Blast – September 13, 2021
When we face an enemy more powerful than ourselves, we need the help of someone more powerful than our enemy. It seems that in the days in which we live we have a myriad of enemies; the hordes are at the gates robbing us of joy and peace. But, let’s be clear, as followers of Christ, we only have one enemy. In (John 10 ) Jesus teaches us that the enemy of our soul is a thief seeking to steal, kill and destroy. The Apostle Peter further describes our enemy in (1 Peter 5:8) as our adversary, the devil, who prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. In (Ephesians 6:10 – 18) the Apostle Paul reminds us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the devil. He is a schemer, a liar, a destroyer!
Pastor Jim Denison describes Satan as the original terrorist. The Taliban or ISIS learned everything from the enemy of our souls. Jesus called him “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44). Remember that verse in (John 10:10), anytime, and every time we see stealing, killing and destruction, we can know that our enemy is at work. These things are the product of his hands.
He is the “god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4), the “prince of this world” (John 12:31), and the “deceiver of the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). Jesus declared: “When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
Denison comments: “This verse is especially relevant to the trials we face today: ‘The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God'” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
For example, Satan has so blinded the minds of ISIS and other jihadist groups that they think they are serving God by killing Christians. He has so blinded the minds of atheists like Greg Epstein (search for this Bad Actor – the new head Chaplain of Harvard University), that they think they can solve our most intractable problems without the help of an omnipotent God. He has so blinded the minds of postmodern secularists that they think “their truth” is “the truth.”
Make no mistake…Satan can and does deceive those who claim to be Christians as well. Pastor Phil has done a remarkable job speaking not only to this truth and its dangerous consequences, but providing us with the tools to thwart the schemes of the Schemer.
Next we will add to your tool belt as we unpack our essential principles from the Lord designed to thwart our adversary so he can not gain a foothold!
