Discerning Satan's Tactics -- Zac Poonen -- April 10, 2021

[Music] i want to begin with the first temptation that satan gave to jesus in the wilderness after the 40 days of temptation were over and the reply that jesus gave that's what i want you to think about for a moment those are the first spoken words of jesus ministry remember it like that one of the first words that jesus spoke once he began his ministry recorded in the scriptures after his baptism matthew 4 verse 4 never forget this man shall not live by bread or food alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of god when we live close to god we can hear him speak to us that becomes clearer as we walk more and more with him but right from the beginning of our christian life we have the bible which is god's word and when it says here that we are to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of god that means we cannot really experience the fullness of life if we don't receive every word that proceeds from the mouth of god and you can be pretty sure that the devil knows that and so one of the things the devil's going to do is to try his best to make sure that christians do not study the bible or they read it casually they're more interested in the news on the internet or in some cases video games or other things so long as the devil can keep people away from the bible he knows that they will not come to spirit full spiritual life man shall not live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of god so when we think of discerning satan's tactics here is the number one he's going to try and prevent you from knowing the words that are proceeded out of god's mouth many people say i can't hear god well i'd say brother sister have you read the bible first of all if you haven't read the bible from cover to cover don't say i can't hear god speaking to my heart it's one of the first things that i began to do when i was converted 62 years ago i said i want to read the bible even if i don't understand it more and more as i read it i'll understand it the next thing that i want to say which is from god's word is that many christians know only about the death of christ that he died for our sins i think all christians know that christ died on the cross for our sins but there are other things accomplished on the cross as well in fact in romans 6 it says our old man the mind that wants to sin that's the old man the mind that wants to sin was crucified with christ on the cross well you say i wasn't even alive then yes but god knew you before the words were created and therefore he put you in christ on the cross your mind to sin was crucified that is how we come to victory over sin knowing that christ died for our sins brings only forgiveness but knowing that our mind to sin was crucified with christ on the cross brings victory as you read in romans 6 sin shall not have dominion over you how do you how would you get forgiveness if you do not believe that christ died on the cross you wouldn't be even forgiven today well how can you get victory if you don't believe what it says in romans 6 that our old man was crucified with him you say well it's difficult to believe that well millions of people in the world say it's difficult to believe that christ died for our sins but you believe it that changed your life and the same thing with knowing that our old man was crucified up and change your life and here's another thing that happened on the cross it says in hebrews chapter 2 that one of the reasons why christ took flesh and blood and came like us have you seen this hebrews chapter 2 since we the children share in flesh and blood he that is jesus also took part in the same flesh and blood why we would say to die for our sins yes that our old man may be crucified with him yes but here it says so that through his death he might render satan powerless that is the one where the power of death that is the devil isn't it interesting that up until the time jesus died satan had the power of death he could kill job's children and he couldn't kill job because god restrained him but that power is taken away from him when jesus died on the cross as far as god's children are concerned satan still has a whole lot of power over people who have not surrendered their life to christ but he has zero power over someone who has made jesus christ lord of his life but he can scare you if you don't know every word that is proceeded from the mouth of god for example some of the things i just showed you now well satan would scare you to make you imagine that he has power over you even though he doesn't to keep man ignorant of the word of god is his aim do you think a defeated enemy in a war would want all the newspapers in this country to proclaim that we have been defeated supposing a country is fighting with a country b and b has been defeated thoroughly the newspapers in a will publish it b has been defeated what about the newspapers in country b they will try and conceal it they'll probably publish a lie that we have won the victory so in this battle between christ and satan christ was the christ deviated satan two thousand years ago it's written in god's word and those who live by every word that proceeds from god's mouth know it but do you think satan wants people to know it no he doesn't want any of you to know listen to me my dear brothers and sisters this will liberate you he does not want you to know that he was thoroughly defeated on the cross that he has zero power over you except what you give him yeah it's possible for a believer to give satan power though he doesn't have to because god has given us a free will when adam and eve went into the garden of eden they didn't have to go and eat of the forbidden tree no but they had a free will we can say why didn't god prevent them from going to the tree of knowledge of good and evil god could have easily done that if he had made adam like a robot you know what a robot is programmed to the computer to do exactly what you tell it to do and if god had made adam like a robot adam would have walked up to the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the program would have said turn away and he would have turned away like a robot and gone to the tree of life he wouldn't have been a son do you prefer to have a robot as a child in your home or a real child well god is like that too he doesn't want robots look at the planets that have obeyed god for millions of years but none of them can become children of god no planet can sin because they don't have a free will the trees and the plants they obey god completely according to the laws of nature they cannot sin a tree cannot sin but a tree cannot be a child of god either same thing with dogs and cats and all that but we we have a free will and a conscience only angels and human beings have that and because of that we can be children of god and so it's very important for us to know what christ did on the cross he took away the power it says here in hebrews 2 14 he doesn't say he destroyed the devil satan has not been destroyed he's not being killed his power has been taken away why has satan not been killed god could have destroyed satan why did god allow satan to come into the garden of eden well let me use an illustration from physical exercise the only way we can develop the muscles in our body whether it's in our legs or in our hands is by subjecting those muscles to resistance people pull springs and do exercise on machines with their legs and they are subjecting the muscles in our body to some resistance and when we subject our the muscles in our body to resistance the muscles become strong those who never do exercise they become fat not strong so god has allowed satan to exist to resist us so that we can resist him and become spiritually strong that's god's way it's and so it's the way now physical body is away in our spirit too but we must recognize in our battle with satan that we are battling a defeated enemy he may be alive but he's already been defeated and he has zero power over us so it says here that he he was rendered powerless and the purpose was hebrews 2 15 that he might free us we who through fear of death was subject to slavery all our lives every person born into the world is a slave of satan until he surrenders his life to the lordship of christ and believes that satan was defeated on the cross he's freed from that slavery you know this was not possible in the old testament if you read right from genesis to malachi you never read of any person fighting with satan or overcoming satan you read a satan right from genesis chapter 3 and you read of satan even in the book of zechariah accusing joshua the high priest but you read in chronicles about satan tempting david but you never read of anyone overcoming satan you read of satan in the book of job but you don't read of job overcoming satan and so in the old testament god never permitted satan to come into contact or conflict with anybody no jewish person nobody in israel came into phys into con conflict with satan because they'd have all been crushed the first person you read in the bible who encounters satan and overcomes him is jesus christ so as soon as you read open the pages of the new testament the first thing you read in the ministry of jesus is his encounter with savior that's the first time in the bible that you read of anyone encountering satan and overcoming him that's a pattern for us we are not under the old covenant the old covenant was abolished on the day of pentecost we need to understand that the law of commandments external commandments is abolished on the day of pentecost and now in the from the day of pentecost on which the holy spirit writes a far higher law in our hearts not just don't murder but don't get angry not just don't commit adultery but don't lust out to women that's a law written in our hearts by the holy spirit we're not under the old covenant we are under higher law as much higher as jesus is above moses if you want to know how much higher the new covenant is above the old covenant see how much higher jesus is above moses they followed moses we followed jesus satan could overcome people in the old covenant god may have restrained him but he could never overcome christ look at these wonderful words that jesus spoke at the end of his life in john 14 verse 30 john 14 30 the last part the ruler of the world is coming and he has nothing in me see jesus acknowledged that satan is the ruler of the world not this physical world of people but this world system the world system that controls movies that controls television that controls politics that controls finances and so many things in this world the ruler of this world system is satan it was the root he was the ruler of the world when jesus was on earth and he is the ruler of the world today and that's why you see how pornography has flooded the internet who runs that system and what shall we say of a believer who turns on his computer or his phone to watch this pornography which satan is running do you think such a believer is in fellowship with jesus do you think such a believer will ever overcome satan not as long as he's doing that he's cooperating with satan financing it sometimes paying money just like a person pays money to go to a prostitute these are the ways in which the devil gets advantage of god's people but there are more ways i'll come to that in a moment but remember jesus said the ruler of the world is coming but he has nothing in me oh what a testimony for 33 and a half years he lived on this earth tempted exactly like we are the devil tried to get into him get him there get into him but he never could find a foothold in jesus what does it mean to follow jesus jesus always said follow me follow me follow me here is where we are to follow him you have to follow him in the way he resisted satan and resisted sin through the power of the holy spirit that's why we need to be filled with the holy spirit you cannot overcome satan if you're not filled with the holy spirit don't treat that as something unimportant we need to be filled with the holy spirit every day not a once for all experience every day because that's the only way we can overcome and we must believe the word of god that he was defeated on the cross i want to show you an amazing verse in scripture that's helped me tremendously you know god's word becomes true in your life only when you believe it otherwise it's there written in the pages of scripture but it never becomes real in your life until you believe it it's like food is in your in the plate there excellent food that can make you strong but if you just look at it admire it that food will not make you strong even if you eat it it does not make you strong until it is digested food must not be admired not just eaten but digested in the same way the bible and god's word is not given to you to be admired and to say i believe the bible is god's word so what even the devil believes that it's not enough to read it if you read it and you don't meditate on it and you don't let it sink into your heart it's like eating food which is not digested your digestive system is not working and what is the result you'll throw it out you'll vomit and throw up and it's gone you can eat every day and if you're gonna all throw it all up you're not gonna be strong it has to be digested the bible says blessed is the man who meditates on the word of god day and night he'll be like a tree planted by the rivers always bringing forth fruit and whatever he does will prosper i have lived by that word for many years psalm 1 verse 1 to 3 don't walk in the way of ungodly people but meditate on god's word day and night not read god's word day and night read it when you get opportunity but meditate on it as and when you get an opportunity throughout the day and whatever you do will prosper that is how man shall live man is meant to live and that's the first thing that jesus said in response to the devil so let's look a little bit about how the devil comes the first mention of the devil historically in the bible is in the book of job and so let's just turn there for a moment actually job lived but hundreds of years before moses who wrote genesis moses wrote genesis and job lived maybe 500 years before moses and so the book of job is actually the first book in the bible and the first book in the bible that god wrote tells us about satan wanting to attack a godly man isn't that interesting and how god boasted about this man job who had such a wonderful testimony that he feared god and turned away from evil let me tell you something about this man joe just one thing among others in job and chapter 31 job chapter 31 we read something about that whole chapter he's we read something about his testimony as a godly man and we you can see why satan wanted to attack this man look at this this is a man who lived before the ten commandments were written before moses job 31 verse 1 i made a covenant or an agreement with my eyes how can then i how can i then look with lust at a woman say hey when did joe live did he live after jesus spoke about these things in matthew 5 no he lived even before the 10 commandments were given then where did he get this idea that i should not lust after a woman i'll tell you when you develop the habit of fearing god like job did god himself will tell you even if you are illiterate and cannot read the bible he will tell you in your conscience the things that are wrong isn't it amazing that a man who didn't have a bible who didn't even have the holy spirit dwelling in him what he had was the fear or reverence of god that's all with the reverence for god he knew i must not lust after a woman it's not my wife how is it that today's christians christian men even married men i'm sorry to say haven't understood that i'll tell you why we have heard about the grace of god but not known the fear of god the advantage that the early disciples had was that for 30 years their parents brought it brought them up in the fear of god then they heard about the grace of god from jesus the trouble with christians today is they hear about the grace of god straight away they never were brought up in the fear of god and that's why so many christians sin with their eyes and their thoughts what job said how can i ever do it and he goes on to say i won't make gold my god you read that amazing what he came to man this is the man who's satan wanted to attack but what we learn in job and chapter one something that satan says which is true when he's speaking to god he says god you have put a hedge around him job chapter one you have you put a hedge around him his family and all that he has job chapter 1 verse 10. satan recognized that there were three protective hedges around job and i want you to know that if that was true of job it's true true of you as a child of god job chapter 1 verse 10 there's a hedge around job's person around his house means his family members and a third hedge around his property and satan could not enter any of those hedges without god opening it up a little bit and giving him permission so god permitted the outer hedge of the property of job to be opened up for the devil to come and the devil came and destroyed his property he opened up a little bit of the inner hedge of his family and satan came and killed his children and the central hedge around job himself god opened it a little bit so you can touch his body but you can't take his life every point at every step he could only go as far as god permitted him and if that was true two thousand years before christ how much more true it is today when satan has been defeated do you know that do you know there are three hedges around you if you're a child of god who's walking with a clear conscience one hedges around all your possessions your bank account your assets everything your house your car everything there's a hedge around it that god has put then the inner gut inside that there's a hedge around your wife and your children and inside there's a hedge around your body and yourself i believe it and satan cannot enter any one of these hedges without god permitting it god permits it sometimes he permits it even today to make us overcomers god could boast about job to satan he says have you seen a man like that on the earth satan says let me test him i remember as a young man when i read that about job god boasted about satan job to satan saying have you seen a man like joe i was a young man i was 19 and a half and i got converted i was baptized when i was 21 and i said lord jesus can you boast like that about me can you boast about me to satan and say have you seen a young man like that who fears me will turn away from evil and do what is right whatever it may cost him i want to ask you my brother sister can god boast about like that to satan about you i took it as a personal challenge and i said lord i want to be like that that's been my prayer for 60 years i want you to always boast about me i don't care for the opinions of men what's the use people thinking you're a spiritual person those people don't know 90 of your life they can't read your thoughts they don't know your attitudes to people they don't know what you do in secret they don't know how you talk to him excuse me how you talk to your wife or your husband at home they don't know these things they don't know whether you love money they don't know how you handle money they don't know whether you're righteous in money matters most people know nothing about your life maybe you're steeped in debt and you got into debt because you wanted to enjoy a lavish lifestyle the bible says oh no man anything you're not bothered about that how can god boast about you you have to clear your death first or at least make an effort to clear it this is there and then we say we want to overcome satan you want to overcome satan in 100 years i want to tell you the truth when you begin to fear god and his word and say lord i want to fear god take this matter of debt i have i took that seriously romans 13 8 oh no man anything and i'm 81 years old today i've never been in debt with for one cent to anybody in the world at any time if you do borrow sometimes in an emergency you may want to borrow repaid as soon as possible don't try to overcome satan if you neglect these commands in god's word man shall live by every word that proceeds from god's mouth is what jesus said to the devil first of all and that's what i want to say to you first of all don't even attempt to think you can overcome satan if you neglect god's word are you fighting the battle to keep your eyes pure these are the things i want to emphasize it's what you read in the book of job job could not overcome satan always because he grumbled and complained throughout but he did not have the holy spirit but he finally repented and god forgave him but today we have the holy spirit ah we don't follow job we follow jesus who never fell never sin the other thing i want to show you is where the bible tells us how satan came to attack adam and eve not physically like in the case of joe long before job's time the first human beings and how did the devil come remember see this very interesting in genesis 3 verse 1 how does the devil come first question has god really said how does he come questioning the word of god has god really said genesis 3 1 that you can't eat from any of the trees and he gets satan woman into a discussion with satan don't ever get into a discussion with satan you lose you know you're going to argue with a lawyer and a crook who is a million times cleverer than you don't get into an argument with him jesus did not get into a discussion with satan when satan said something jesus said it is written second temptation came jesus said it is written and the third temptation jesus said it is written that was enough that's the same temptation that came to eve in those days it wasn't written but it was spoken has god really spoken and said and all that satan all that eve had to do was said god has said we cannot eat of this tree end of discussion satan i don't want to talk to you anymore about that but she continued that discussion and once you get into a discussion with satan he will always win many people when they are trying to do something just slightly unrighteous the devil says well it's not that bad and you get into a discussion with satan and you'll always lose and you will do that unrighteous thing whether it is to cheat a little in your work to file a false tax return or to lust after a woman or to do something wrong satan will convince you it's not that serious well once you get into a discussion with him you're going to be defeated he's the cleverest created being even today among all created beings satan was created with the sharpest mind don't try to argue with him the only way to overcome him is by saying it is written and stick to god's word and then you will overcome like jesus did but because he the woman here discussed with satan she fell into sin the implication here was later on as you go on um look at this lovely fruit where six the woman saw the tree was good for food a delight to the eyes of genesis 3 6 and satan was implying such lovely fruit it makes your mouth water why would a loving god prevent you from eating it i'll tell you why he doesn't really love you that's what the devil is implying because he knows the verse five that if you eat it you'll be like him and he doesn't want you to be like him see that's the second thing he makes you doubt the word of god makes you get into a discussion with him and then makes you doubt god's love if anything happens in your life and satan has succeeded in making you doubt god's love i want to say to you he's already put a foot inside the door and he'll gradually pry the door open and enter your life if you want to stop satan at the first point say to him it is written when he tempts you saying god doesn't love you rebuke him and say god loves me he loved me that he gave his only son for me how can he say he doesn't love me why has he allowed your child to be sick i don't know but jesus died for me on the cross that i know he loves me why did he allow your child to die god could have stopped it he said i don't know but i know that god loves me that has proved once and for all on the cross of calvary when he died for me on the cross it's very important to know this to resist satan let me tell you some a revelation of god's love that he gave to me many years ago when i was seeking god to understand some of you already heard me would know this because i mentioned it many times but for those of you who haven't heard many years ago maybe 40 years ago i was seeking god to understand lord jesus what was the cup you were trying to avoid drinking in the garden of gethsemane what is the cup he prayed and said if it's possible that this cup jesus was a person who never hesitated to do his father's will never never never however painful it was even for 40 days without food he would not turn the stones into bread without his father's permission such obedience he would not turn the stones into bread even though he had power to do it without his father's permission yet i find him struggling in the last day of his life what was the cup the cup was not physical death jesus would be ready to die a thousand times on on the cross because of his love for us but there was something he did not want that was as he came to the nearer the cross the garden of gethsemane he realized that for three hours i'm going to be forsaken by my father i'm going to experience an eternal separation eternity in three hours i'm going to experience a separation from my heavenly father that was the cup he didn't want to drink i have had fellowship with my father from all eternity that fellowship has never been broken even for one second i don't want it to be broken now see we don't value that enough we value our physical health more than we value fellowship with the father i'll tell you that most christians almost all christians do not value fellowship with the father more than their physical health if there's some problem with their physical health they'll immediately do something to rectify even a small injury on their hand but a break of fellowship with the father you don't take it so seriously do you know that one lustful look at a woman breaks your fellowship with the father how many christians take that seriously one bigger attitude towards somebody breaks your fellowship with the father how many people take that seriously one person on earth whom you have not forgiven till today has broken your fellowship with the father for ages who takes it seriously i know believers who haven't forgiven others for years but they go and break bread and they say we are believers they sing praises to the father but they haven't forgiven people they don't value fellowship with the father that's why you can live without fellowship with the father many people wonder why god is not listening i'll tell you why you're not in fellowship with him and you're not in fellowship with him because you don't listen to the voice of conscience your conscience tells you you have not forgiven that person who hurt you you say well he deserves to be unforgiven okay well satan says that's exactly what i want you to have that unforgiving spirit so i can rule over your life he gets power over you so i can imagine the angels coming down and get so many and saying but lord it's only going to be for three hours and then you'll be back in fellowship with the father again and jesus would say i'm imagining a conversation now you see i don't want my fellowship of the father to be broken even for one second that's how much he valued all through his life and then i was imagining this conversation in the garden of gethsemane i can imagine the father telling jesus you haven't sinned one bit till today you can come straight up from gethsemane to heaven right now but zach will go to hell and jesus says zach will go to hell okay father i'll go to the cross to save that from hell and drink that which i detest being separated from you for three hours many of us think that the great suffering jesus had was the nails on the hands and feet no that was not even a drop in an ocean compared to a separation from the father night remember when the when that came to me as a revelation as i was seeking god to understand the cup i wept and i wept and i wept and i said lord i never knew you loved me so much it changed my life i decided i'd never lived for myself for the rest of my life i asked god to give me a long life so that i could live and show my gratitude to him i said lord i don't want any reward in heaven you've already done more than enough for me on the cross but i want to say thank you to you by living a life totally devoted to you i will never live for money i will never preach for money i'll never go to places just to please to rich churches to get money no i will support myself and i'll serve you i will not take money from people that's how i've lived with all these years even if i have to live simply that's fine because of one thing i saw what jesus went through to save me eternally god revealed that to me 40 years ago and i haven't forgotten it it brings tears to my eyes even now when i think of it we love him because he first loved us and when that love grips your heart satan cannot touch you let me show you 1 john chapter 3 here is a revelation that came to me see if you don't come into this love relationship christ and with god don't even try to overcome sin [Music] it's not a technique there's no technique here the first commandment is love god with all your heart soul strength and mind your whole heart must be filled with a fervent love for god and the other side of the coin is love your neighbor as yourself in other words every single person there must not be a single person on earth whom you haven't forgiven there must not be a single person on earth whom you hate if there's one human being whom you detest and hate please don't imagine that you can overcome satan forget it if you hate your mother-in-law i don't care how bad your mother-in-law was to you even if she was like the devil himself if you hate her you will never overcome satan maybe your mother-in-law is under satan's power but you come under satan's power too the devil kills two birds with one stone he made that person evil towards you whoever it is one stone he doesn't throw a stone at you you just react in an unforgiving spirit to him and he's the devil's killed two birds with one stone don't let the devil make a fool of you forgive see what it says in one john chapter 4 1 john chapter 4. it's an amazing statement chapter 4 verse 17 the last part as jesus is so are we in this world i remember when i first got light on that verse i said lord is this really true i meditated on it don't skip through these verses quickly meditate on it as jesus is so am i in this world and i say to myself as jesus is so am i in this world you know in other words you mean my position in this world today is just like what jesus was when he was in this world yes if i fear god and i i've surrendered my life to him and he's lord of my life and i've kept a clear conscience and being free from all known sin then as jesus is so am i in this world and the way it came to me was like this was jesus afraid of the devil or was the devil afraid of jesus you know the answer the devil was scared of jesus wherever jesus went the demons would start crying out he's come here he's come here and what the lord said to me was as in your early days you were afraid of the devil from now on the devil will be afraid of you because as jesus is so are you in this world now you may say that's not possible okay it will not be possible for you because you don't believe it it is possible for me because i believe it according to your faith be it unto you you never experience anything in scripture if you don't believe it for example your sins will not be forgiven if you don't believe that christ died for your sins he died for your sins but if you don't believe it you are unforgiven christ defeated satan on the cross but you don't believe it satan has power over you it's written here that as christ is who are we in this world you don't believe it it will not be true in your life i believed it and i can say that delivered me from the fear of satan you know the number of believers are afraid of satan save me attack me save me attack my children save me attack my wife boy are you a believer of what do you believe what it says in all these verses have coded today let us stand in [Music] the power god has given us let me give you some more warnings from scripture in 2nd corinthians in chapter 2 paul says in verse 11 so that no advantage should be taken of us by satan because we are not ignorant of his schemes and his tactics how does satan take advantage of us he's talking about believers when he says us he's talking about himself plus the corinthian christian that includes you and me what does he say see the context verse 10 i forgive that person who did something wrong [Music] why do i forgive that person who did something wrong so that satan doesn't get an advantage over me it's so clear that satan gets an advantage over any believer including paul if he does not forgive somebody so let's stop for a moment stop and ask yourself right now before we proceed can you think of anyone whom you have not forgiven and i'll tell you you don't have to think long it will immediately come to your mind maybe this person that person the other person i want you to do something right now you cannot erase the memory of what that person did to hurt your harmony or your family or anything that can never be erased because we have no control over our memory but you have you have power over your will and say say to the lord in his presence right now lord that person whom i have not forgiven to now i forgive right now and that other person who did harm to me or my family i forgive right now and that other person if you've got ten names name them all and forgive them in the presence of god and it is done the memory of what they did will come to you for the next 50 years so what i remember the things that people did against me doesn't jesus know that people who crucified him sure but he forgave him and so i may remember so many things that people have done against me but i've forgiven every one of them and so satan cannot take advantage of me says your satan takes advantage and that's part of his tactics and unforgiving spirits it's so very important that i've been stressing it so much everywhere now forgive everyone forgive forgive forgive brother and sister it's very important the other thing i want to mention is ephesians in chapter four again it speaks about how satan takes advantage over us it says in ephesians 4 and verse 27 don't give the devil an opportunity how do you give the devil an opportunity see the context of it verse 26 when you get angry don't sin don't let the sun set on your anger so there is an anger which is not sinful and there is an anger which is sinful so how to distinguish between the two because if i'm angry in a sinful way it says in verse 27 the devil gets an opportunity over me do you know the number of people believers over whom the devil gets power because they get angry in a wrong way so how to distinguish what is the right way and wrong way to get angry you know whenever you don't understand the verse of scripture i follow the principle in the olden days when if i read read something and i see a word in the english language which i don't understand you know what i would do i put that book down and take a dictionary and open up that word and say oh i never knew the meaning of this word before now i know the meaning so when you read something in the bible and you don't understand go to the dictionary this is the written word go to the word that became flesh john 1 1 it says the word became flesh john 1 14 that is jesus christ jesus christ is the one his life explains the difficult verses so i say how to know when to get angry when not to get angry i go to the dictionary i go to jesus the word made flesh when did he get angry he got angry when he saw people making money in the name of religion that is to be the christ-like when you see on television creatures who are making money from poor people in the name of christianity if you don't get angry you're not a follower of jesus i get angry when i see a preacher on television or anywhere else else or in his publication asking poor people to give him money something jesus never did i get angry because i want to be like jesus and if you don't get angry i say to you in jesus name you're not like him you're so too gentle you're gentle with the devil i don't want to be like that the other place we read jesus is angry you read in mark chapter 2 where once he went into a synagogue to heal a man who had a withered hand and the pharisees said no today's a sabbath you can't heal and jesus was angry at the lack of compassion those pharisees had for this poor suffering man when you don't have compassion for people who are suffering you should be angry at those people who don't have compassion for a poor man so those are the two instances i see jesus being angry when he saw people making money in the name of religion in the temple he chased them out in anger when he saw people having no compassion on some suffering man he was angry but nowhere else i never see him getting angry when people called him the devil they called him bills about prince of devils he said you're forgiven when they spat on his face slapped and hit him he forgave them so what i learned from all this is one very simple lesson i must never be angry when people hurt me or speak evil about me or to me or anything they do to me if i get angry that is sinful anger whatever it is but i must get angry when it concerns the glory of god or when people hurt others without compassion and the sad thing is what i see in many believers i'm talking about believers they get angry when people hurt them and they don't get angry when they see people making money in the name of christianity and they don't get angry when people are exploiting others and all the sex trafficking going on in the world little children being kidnapped and all that they don't get angry when they read it i get angry when i read that in the papers and i say lord jesus come soon and protect these poor helpless people do you find a reaction in you we must be angry for the right reason be angry but never sin otherwise it says here verse 27 ephesians 4 27 you are giving the devil an opportunity you yourself are opening the door for satan to come into your life when you get angry with someone because he hurt you because he spoke evil about you because he exploited you or he hurt your family members and you get angry you're opening the door saying satan come right in come right into my family i welcome you it's believers who are opening the door to satan who was defeated on the cross by not forgiving people by getting angry when somebody hurt you or your family so let me turn now to ephesians chapter 6 i remember years ago the lord showing me this ephesians chapter 6. verse 12 he's talking about standing verse 11 ephesians 6 11 standing against all the schemes of satan our struggle is not against flesh and blood that means we don't fight against human beings but against these spiritual rulers and powers of darkness the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places satan was thrown out of the third heaven into the second heaven and we battle him in these heavenly places and our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against these satanic powers and the way the lord spoke to me from that verse is never fight with human beings conserve your energy to fight against satan alone never fight with flesh and blood so that's a principle i've tried to follow for years and years and it has helped me in my battle against satan not only in my personal battles but in relation to my family in relation to the churches i have responsibility for to ensure that satan does get it doesn't get an entry there that i refuse to fight with flesh and blood have you made a decision like that in your life that you will never fight with a human being i've had sometimes you know i stand strongly for certain doctrines in scripture [Music] and i've had people who preachers and others come to my house and they want to argue with me about some things and the moment i discover that they have come for an argument i keep quiet i say if you want to know the truth i can spend two hours explaining it to you from scripture but if you come to argue with me i say i'm sorry excuse me i'm not going to argue with you at all you can believe what you like you can imagine that you won the argument please go ahead but i will not reply to you because i refuse to fight with flesh and blood even over doctrinal matters my calling is not to fight for a doctor my calling is to proclaim a doctrine and to stand for the truth of scripture unashamedly fearlessly but not to get into an argument with people no i want to avoid arguments i want to avoid all type of conflicts i will not get into conflict with people who try to cheat me or get an argument over money or any of these things no now i'm not going to do it if you don't have that attitude satan will get an advantage over you then i want to show you something else please turn with me to luke chapter 16. [Music] satan is called the god of this world and we saw how jesus said the prince of this world comes and he's got nothing in me he doesn't find anything in me that responds to him satan is the one who controls television he controls the financial world he controls the political world and we have to be very careful that we don't get polluted in these areas it's all right for a christian to vote but when you begin to canvas for a particular political party that is your favorite be careful that you don't hold hand in glove with the devil and promote a person who's a godless man what should we do in the time of election i'll tell you what i've done in india anywhere for the last so many years i do what it says in 1 timothy 2 the first few verses pray for those in authority i say lord i'm going to cast my vote in the primary i'm not going to canvas with people to vote for this person or that this party or that party i'm going to pray that almighty god who knows what is the best person to rule my country will allow him to come in power i have faith that god will do that so i pray in the meaning yeah you can go and cast your vote after that but have faith that god will control the affairs that's the meaning of one timothy to pray for those in authority that we may lead a peaceable life in godliness and honesty not that my party will win i'm not interested in that that we as christians will be able to lead a peaceable life in godliness and honesty because we are not citizens of this world the citizens of the world can go around canvassing for their party to win but i'm a citizen of heaven and i want to make sure that the gospel of jesus christ can spread to the world and i want to that we can live a peaceable life in godliness and honestly we pray for that these are the subtle ways in which the devil gets into people's lives and messes them up so be very careful because your effectiveness the sharpness of your spiritual sword will get blunt if you get involved in all these side issues here to keep our sword to preach the gospel to proclaim the truth of an overcoming life to proclaim the truth that satan was defeated on the cross and needed no power over your life at all so here it says in luke verse 13 no one can serve two masters who are the two masters you say god and satan jesus said no nobody will imagine that he can serve god and satan everybody knows that's not possible here he says that two masters are god and money wealth that i'm sorry to say many christians think they can many christians think they can serve money and serve god sorry you cannot jesus said money is a master god is a master and you have to choose which master you want to serve and because some people become slaves to money the devil gets far over them because they do some unrighteous things not only they do unrighteous things their mind is all the time occupied with money money money money money money how to make more money how to make more money do you think such a person can serve god do you think jesus when he was on earth was always thinking how to make more money he worked hard as a carpenter up to the age of 30 and he needed money to help his force younger brothers and two sisters and a widowed mother at home um eight member family he's got he's got to support that and he worked hard as a carpenter so his mind was on money to earn his living but not how to make more money how to become the richest carpenter in nazareth he never had all those ambitions he wanted to earn to take care of his family he didn't want to be in debt to anybody so many christians open the door to the devil themselves and say how do overcome sin you'll never be able to overcome satan unless you close the door to the love of money to have money is okay maybe you have 10 million dollars in your bank account that's okay if you don't love it or whether you have ten dollars in your bank account the question is not how much you have the question is not what is your monthly income whether you have a very high monthly income or low monthly income that's not the point the point is do you love it some people think oh i'm poor i don't love money i have seen thousands of poor people on the streets in india every one of them loves money have you seen a homeless man in your life who doesn't love money do you think poverty brings freedom from the love money it does not i've seen very rich people who don't love money and i've seen very poor people who love money like anything so it's not got to do anything to with your bank account don't say to yourself oh i'm very poor i don't love money you probably love money more than all those rich people i mean you're certain maybe you are careless with money that's why you're poor or maybe you are not disciplined in the use of it and so you're poor or maybe you didn't honor god god always provides me the needs of his children he certainly does but if you love money you cannot love god you cannot serve god and money how to find out why is this important because the devil is the prince of this world and he's the one who controls and he can get a grip on you through money you've got to be careful how to find out if i'm serving god or money well here's a test let me use an illustration here's a mr a and mr b sitting in front of me and they both say zach is my servant how will you find out whether i am a servant of a or b very easy tell both a and b to call zach so both a and b asked me to come to them and the one i go to i'm his servant so here is god and money calling you which one do you respond to you are the servant of that person you can answer that yourself but if you respond to money more than to god i want to tell you satan get a power over your life because he's the god of this world then i want to say one more thing in revelation in chapter 12 i'm trying to try to show you the schemes of satan by which he gets power over god's people turn with me to revelation in chapter 12. here satan is called in verse 9 the deceiver of the whole world he is always trying to deceive people that includes believers as well and it says in verse 10 that he's called the accuser of believers it's a title of satan the accuser of god's children so when you get into the habit of accusing god's children you're holding hands with satan whether you know it or not do you realize that satan says i want to accuse god's children whenever i see one of god's children doing something wrong i want to tell everybody about it and satan says i want some co-workers will you be my co-worker he tells god's children will you one of you be my co-workers in going around spreading the news about the evil this believer did and you say yes i'll do that i'll tell everybody what this person did look at all the gossips there are among christians who don't talk about the good things somebody did who talk about the evil this person did the evil that person did and the evil the other person did who are they holding hands with at that moment what you say may be right that it says here the devil accuses people before god the devil may tell lies to us but he can't tell a lie to god when he accuses you about something to god is something true whenever he accuses a believer he says this believer did this he can't dare to tell a lie to god what he tells about that believer is absolutely accurate this believer told a lie this believer cheated the tax people this believers got a bitterness against this person this believer is always gossiping about somebody in his house he's speaking the truth and so don't glory in saying well what i said was true okay it may be true what the devil says to god is also true but it can be a spirit of accusation so when you have a spirit of accusation against somebody particularly somebody you don't like you don't like you're holding hands with the accuser that is satan that's how satan gets power with him and all that i've been trying to tell you in these in this session is the ways in which to stop holding hands with the devil resist him in jesus name don't fight with flesh and blood fight with satan don't accuse people let the devil do the accusation if you turn with me to zechariah in the book of zechariah we read a demonstration on this in zechariah chapter 3 we read about joshua the high priest that i'm standing before the lord and satan zechariah 3 1 was standing there to accuse him this is what we just spoke about and the lord said the lord rebuked you satan and satan was accusing joshua because verse 3 his garments were filthy that means there was some sin in his life that's the meaning oh god there's sin in joshua's life and it is true but the lord rebukes him say no i plucked him out of man from the morning today i'd say my son has died for his sins and his sins are cleansed and then zachara and he says here the lord says take away those filthy garments and clothe him today the meaning is clothing in the righteousness of christ satan you can't accuse him anymore that's what god says and then see what zechariah says in verse 5 zechariah joins hands with god not with satan he says oh god that's wonderful that you put these new droves upon and also put a clean turban on his head wow who is he holding hands with there with the one who's justifying joshua the high priest not the one who's accusing him keep that picture in your mind whenever you see a child of god there's something wrong in his life there's something wrong with every child of god's life you're not perfect and you see something you can be pretty sure the devil's accusing that person to god about it you go you got an option now either to pray for him or to accuse him it says in revelation 12 we saw that he accuses people day and night devil is a full-time worker revelation 12 time a full-time accuser of the brethren the opposite of that it says about jesus in hebrews 7 and verse 25 he's a full-time intercessor day and night hebrews 7 25 he prays for god's people that's what we saw in zechariah 3 a child of god who's got something wrong in his life the devil standing there to accuse him god justifying him and zechariah watching this and saying which side shall i join he joins up with god and prays for him to be blessed and today you are in the place of zechariah and you see some child of god put something wrong in their life and the devil's there to accuse him and jesus is there to pray for him you'd stand there in between decide which side you're going to take do you want to be an overcomer if you want to overcome satan and be an overcomer all your days this is god's plan for your life be an intercessor and not an accuser remember the things that he said how the devil comes to make eve doubt god's love god doesn't love you that's why he doesn't want you to have this thing god doesn't love you that's why you allowed your child to die say get behind me let me say one last thing before i close there were two times in the gospels we read jesus saying get behind me satan have you noticed that twice get behind me satan that means get away from him and it's very interesting to see in what context he said that matthew chapter 4 the devil came to jesus in the third temptation he showed him all the kingdoms of the world genesis matthew 4 verse 8 and their glory and he said i'll give this to you if you will worship me from the beginning the devils wanted worship remember this the devil wants people to admire him and worship him and when you listen carefully when you want people to admire you [Music] and honor you be careful you're going to hold hands with satan we are not called to get people to admire us and honor us we have to point away at jesus and say he alone is worthy of all honor and glory not me he alone is worthy of all honor and glory don't ever try to draw attention to yourself the devil loves people to worship him and jesus said call satan get away from here what was the devil implying let me paraphrase his words jesus you have come to earth to win these people to god you don't have to go to the cross and die i'll show you a shortcut bow down to me and i'll give them all to you he was tempting jesus to avoid the cross you can win the world without going to the cross i'll give it to you just bow down to me get away satan any voice that tells you to avoid the way of the cross the way of death to self is the voice of satan now turn with me to the second time jesus said get behind me satan that is the first time in genesis 16 we read about jesus saying verse 21 [Music] sorry i'm sorry not genesis matthew 16 verse 21 matthew 16 verse 21 from that time matthew 16 21 jesus began to show his disciples that he has to go to the jerusalem and suffer and be killed the cross and peter says no lord don't go to the cross and jesus says get behind me satan [Music] it's the second time jesus said get behind me satan again the message was the same anybody who tells me to avoid the way of the cross is the voice of satan whether it comes from satan himself matthew 4 or whether it comes from my closest disciple peter matthew 16. and i want to say that to you whenever you hear a voice inside you telling you don't die to yourself here assert yourself stand on your dignity and the holy spirit says take up the cross die to yourself give up your rights and you say no i don't want people to take advantage of me like that okay when you have gone the way of satan jesus refused to hear any voice that said to him avoid the cross avoid the cross and i want to say to you my brothers and sisters in closing that is a voice you'll hear many times a day when you're insulted to fight back when you're tempted to accuse somebody now don't die to yourself when people praise you for that to go to your head instead of dying to yourself [Music] picture what a dead man how a dead man will react this is what i use in my mind sometimes here's a dead man people call him all types of bad names doesn't affect him he's dead or some other people go and praise him and say oh you're a great prophet doesn't affect him such a man will overcome satan always that's why jesus said pick up the cross and follow me remember it was on the cross that satan was defeated and then when it is when you're on the cross yourself that satan will have no power over you determine i am going to keep my conscience clear all the time and choose the way of the cross in every situation to die to myself never to fight with human beings we do not fight with flesh and blood so that i can conserve all my energy to resist satan and to accomplish his purpose keep union unity with your wife very important because whenever a gap comes between you and your wife the devil comes right through the gap and attacks your children you know why your children were attacked by the devil because you and your wife opened the door by bringing having conflict with each other you and your wife have conflict with each other you're supposed to be one with christ in between where two are gathered together in my name there's tremendous power but the devil succeeded in making you and your wife argue or you and your husband argue and a gap came between and who was he interested in attacking your children you ask yourself why your children went astray don't go any further and asking whether you and your marriage partner are arguing with each other and brought a gap there what shall you do now repent repent there's a solution for everything in repentance and coming back to god taking the blame instead of blaming your children instead of blaming your marriage partner say lord it's me [Music] it's me it's my fault lord forgive me i open the door to the devil in my home say that but lord i'm going to close it now i'm not going to let it happen anymore because you defeated satan on the cross and he's not going to get any part in my life or in my home or over my children god does not want any of your children to be under the power of satan he wants to free all of them pray for them even if they have gone astray god can bring them back god bless you let's pray as we bow our heads in prayer will you pray one prayer lord please remind me of the things that i need to do to set certain matters right that you have spoken to me today i don't want satan to have any power over my life thank you father help me in jesus name amen [Music]

Channel: River of Life Christian Fellowship

Views: 26,173

Rating: 4.8904109 out of 5

Keywords: rlcf, river, life, christian, fellowship, church, god, jesus, bible, scripture, discerning, satan's, tactics, global, online, meetings, sermon, zac, poonen

Id: p46Hpr-M9Fs

Length: 77min 54sec (4674 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 10 2021