"Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.
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Discipleship Training Course Come… Follow Me!
Lesson 31: Discerning the enemy:
Review
So far, in this series, we have considered...
1. The Cross - its power over the curse of sin and death
and its power to release the believer into resurrection life.
Colossians 1:19,20
For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things
on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of
His cross.
2. The contrite heart - its humility which allows the release of
resurrection power that enables the works of Jesus to continue.
Colossians 3:12, 13
Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender
mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one
another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against
another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
3.Temptation - how faith toward God is tested through it.
1 Peter 1:6
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be,
you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your
faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is
tested by fire, may be found to praise, honour, and glory at the
revelation of Jesus Christ...
4. Suffering - the sharing with Jesus in the fight against
principalities and powers.
Philippians 1:29
For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe
in Him, but also to suffer for His sake...
5. Predestined to be adopted as sons of God - God's plan for each
believer.
Isaiah 14:24
The LORD of hosts has sworn, saying, "Surely, as I have thought, so it
shall come to pass, And as I have purposed, so it shall stand:
6. God's desire to communicate with His children.
Isaiah 30:21
Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk
in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the
left.
In this lesson we shall see that the enemy of souls also tries to
communicate with the believer...
1. Through various revealed tactics;
2. Satan's threefold attack on the human heart;
3. Three distinct levels of deception.
Our objective is...
to become aware of the spiritual communication that every disciple faces
and to begin to develop sensitivity to the voice of the Father.
1. Satanic tactics.
John 8:44
You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you
want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in
the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he
speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Satan is a lying deceiver.
Genesis 3:14-15
So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You
are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the
field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days
of your life. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you
shall bruise His heel.
His original and only tactic is deception.
1 Timothy 2:14
And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into
transgression.
Deception leads to sin with the idea of diverting attention from what
God wants.
Matthew 16:22-23
Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it
from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He
turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offence to
Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of
men.”
This tactic was used upon Jesus
Revelation 13
Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of
the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns,
and on his heads a blasphemous name.
{2} Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like
the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon
gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.
{3} And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and
his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marvelled and followed
the beast.
{4} So they worshipped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and
they worshipped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able
to make war with him?”
{5} And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and
he was given authority to continue for forty-two months.
{6} Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His
name, His tabernacle, and thosewho dwell in heaven.
{7} It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome
them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.
{8} All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not
been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world.
{9} If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
{10} He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills
with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and
the faith of the saints.
{11} Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had
two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.
{12} And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his
presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the
first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
{13} He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from
heaven on the earth in the sight of men.
{14} And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which
he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell
on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword
and lived.
{15} He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast,
that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as
would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
{16} He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and
slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,
{17} and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the
name of the beast, or the number of his name.
{18} Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number
of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.
The picture of the invisible powers at work to destroy, if it were
possible, the work of God to fulfil His vision.
The Mark of the Beast – 666 Possible explanation of the
mark as seen in people's lives -
2 Timothy 3:1-5
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
For men will be
6 lovers of
themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents,
6
unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers,
without self-control,
6 brutal,
despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of God,
having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people
turn away!
1 John 5:19
We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of
the wicked one.
Two main "End-Time" camps"
a. Those who are “of
God”.
b. Those who are under
the sway of the evil one.
2. Satan's threefold war on the
human heart.
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who
can know it?
The place of human weakness is - THE HUMAN HEART
Satan's tactics are to
1. Keep the heart in
wickedness
Isaiah 44:20
He feeds on ashes;
A deceived heart has turned him aside;
And he cannot deliver his soul,
Nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”
2. Keep the heart
deceived about spiritual things.
2 Corinthians 4:4
whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest
the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of
God, should shine on them.
3. Keep the heart ignorant of the blessing available
for victory.
3. Three levels of deception.
a. The unbeliever.
1 John 5:19
We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of
the wicked one.
b. The carnal Christian.
James 1:22
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Being a hearer and not a doer of God's Word.
1 John 1:8
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us.
Being full of Self righteousness.
Galatians 6:3
For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he
deceives himself.
Being full of pride.
1 Corinthians 3:18
Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in
this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.
Deferring to Human wisdom.
James 1:26
If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his
tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
Having an unbridled tongue
Galatains 6:7
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he
will also reap.
1 Corinthians 6:9
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of
God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,
1 Corinthians 15:33
Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”
c. The spiritual man.
1 Timothy 4:1-3
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart
from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of
demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared
with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain
from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those
who believe and know the truth.
Malcolm Vine, Cornerstone Ministries. September 2004.
To contact the Bible School email: bibleschool@cornerstoneministries.org.uk
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