Satan's Strategy to Defeat Us – Dr. Charles Stanley

hold in your life. Because when temptation comes, this is what you will do. You say, "Well, I believe in the Bible, but some of it is not relevant." What part is that? Or this is it: "That's just your interpretation." Well, let me ask you this. How do you interpret: "You shall not steal, you shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not bear false witness"? How do you interpret them? There's only one way to interpret it: you won't. That's very simple, isn't it? Very simple. And yet I've seen people come and say, "Well, that's your interpretation." Well, what is the interpretation of "Thou shalt not"?

And what I mean is "You shall not doubt the Word of God." This is how Satan operates. He works on our desires, he works on our most vulnerable points, he creates doubts in our minds. And then he loves this, he wants to get us into a debate. And debating with him is disastrous. Jesus said, "It is written. It is written. It is written. It is written. This is what the Father has said. When someone wants to debate with you about what is right and what is wrong, simply give them the Word of God. You say : "Well, I don't know the Word of God." That's why you need to read the Word of God.

You can't, you can't just come to church and listen to a sermon every once in a while and think you're fit to do it. try with the devil. Listen. You are not fit to deal with the devil unless you know the Word of God. Doesn't mean you have to know it all, but listen. You can deal with him if you know the basics. You won't. And when you listen When you start trying to reason "Thou shalt not" back into saying well, "Thou shalt not." That's not what he said, you shall, you shall not. Now, is God trying to stop us from doing something good?

No! He It's trying to keep us from self-destructing. The Ten Commandments are protection. And when I think about stripping schools of the Ten Commandments, it doesn't matter what else they teach, if you don't teach morality; if you don't teach pious ethics; If you don't teach the truth, what else have you taught? What else have you taught? And then, Satan wants to get us into arguments. And if he can get you to say, "Well, I know." If he gets you to say, "Well, I know, I believe the whole Bible, but I don't understand some of it, so I just don't read that part." But listen, everyone should have some favorite passages, something that God keeps bringing them back to.

It may be the Old Testament or the New Testament, but certainly some passages by which you live. That have become a compass in your life. So what does Satan do? He wants to engage us in a debate, and Jesus simply said, "It is written." That solves it. That's what the Father said. Then, of course, he uses deception as a key weapon. If he can fool you about something, he has you. Think about it. To deceive simply means to deceive by making something appear other than what it really is. And Jesus said that Satan is a deceiver.

And that's how he operates. He would like to trick us into making bad things good, lie not so bad, or tell us a story. So there are all kinds of ways Satan tries to deceive us. And He knows when we are the most vulnerable in whatever area of ​​life He decides to attack us. And then he wants to create division. And Satan is going to say to the young people, "Oh, that's fine for your parents, but you know what? They're old fools." Or "that was true a long time ago, but not now." What part of God's Word is outdated?

Nothing of that. The New Testament interprets the Old Testament for us. We understand the truth of God's Word. But if I do not listen, wherever the Word of God is taken away, there will be division and strife, unbelief and distrust. The Word of God harmonizes us together. We know what the truth is. We know the truth from the error, from the lie. We want to follow the Lord God. That gives us harmony, peace and joy. We don't have to have everything in life that we might like to have. Satan will tell you, "Well, you're not complete without this, that, and the other." On the same side, we could say, "Well, the Bible says that my God will supply all my needs according to his riches to his glory in Christ Jesus." Is it true or not true?

It all comes down to this. Is this the Word of God or not? Is it the truth or not? If it's not the truth, then what is? And if some of it isn't true, what is? And if any of that isn't true, what is? It is the Word of the Living God true from beginning to end. And God wants us to live according to it. If we want to have peace, harmony, joy, wholeness, fulfillment, security, and everything else, we live by the Word of God. You'll notice I didn't say happy, because happiness comes and goes. But truth and joy, piety, God wants the best for us.

He has done his best for us, but we have an enemy in the devil and he lies. He does everything possible to keep us divided. He traps us with lies, he tells us that the Word of God is obsolete, that we no longer need it. So, either we believe him or we don't believe him. But Satan creates division because, ultimately, his goal is to destroy us. If Satan can make you doubt a verse of Scripture, a verse of Scripture, he has a foothold in your life, because this is what happens. If he can make you doubt, watch this carefully, if he can make you doubt a verse, it will take you to some other area of ​​your life where you would like to disobey God, and it will make you consider, "Well, that's not true." ".

Well, maybe this isn't so true after all and this is what he does. Step by step it makes you doubt this. Before long you will be doubting this. In no time you will be doubting the Word of God. That's how treacherous it is. He is a liar, a deceiver. And all he wants you to do is start doubting the Word of God. And if you doubt his Word a little, you will doubt more. And then this is what happens. You will find yourself doing what? You will find yourself choosing which verses of Scripture you want to doubt.

And I can tell you what they will be. The only areas in which you want to sin are those in which you want to doubt the truth of God's Word. It's treacherous. He is a liar. He is a deceiver. And many people who use the name of Jesus, who call themselves Christians, are living in sin because they have chosen, they have decided that they will believe whatever part of the Bible they want to believe. The Word of God is simple, clear and clear. And there are no errors in the Bible. There are some things that are difficult to explain;

I agree. Even Paul admitted that when he wrote and when he explained many things in the Scriptures. But the truth is this...watch this: Satan is a liar and a deceiver. Every time he urges you to do something that is not true in God's Word, he has a foothold. And that foothold is big enough, if they do this, maybe... they'll do that. Next thing you know, the Word of God will shut you down. I have seen some people who I thought were truly committed Christians begin to doubt one or only one part of Scripture. Maybe a couple of verses here and there.

Next thing you know, I don't see them anymore. They left. They decided that not everything applied to them; and therefore, they simply forget it. What part of this doesn't apply to me? The question is this: Do I believe in the Word of God or not? We have an enemy. See this. We all have the same enemy. He works the same way in our minds. He works on our mind, on how we think. If we are saved by the grace of God and think as God thinks, we will live a godly life. When we choose to think differently than God thinks, we find ourselves in trouble, disobeying God.

When you read the Word of God, it is very clear. Either I believe it or I don't believe it. If I don't believe it, I must take responsibility for disbelief in all of God's wonderful and absolutely amazing promises found in the Scriptures. This is a holy book, a holy book, the book of God. Either I believe it or I don't believe it. Believing part of it is not. Believe it all. Genesis one, one until the last verse of Revelation. Talks about heaven and hell. Talk about good and evil. Talk about Satan and angels. It talks about all the things we need to talk about.

The topic is nothing specific. Do I believe it or don't I believe it? And the devil will say to you, "You don't believe in all that. It was written in Hebrew; written in Greek. It's been many, many thousands of years. Everyone doesn't agree. That's not the problem. Can I believe it? Do you believe it?" ?So, let me ask you this question. If you are not living by the Word of God, the Bible, why are you living? Something. Why are you living? You are living by some principles. You are living by some ideas. What promises do you have? of the ideas you follow?

More money? More people? More this, more that? What is the basis of your entire belief system if you don't believe in the truth? of God's Word? What do you believe? And One last question: Why are you going to die? "It is appointed for man to die once, and after that the judgment." You'll notice there are no paragraphs between that. Appointed for man to die once--no and this and that and-- "Appointed to man to die once, and after this death, judgment." If you don't believe that's true, what are you going to die for? Satan will lie to you.

He will bear false witness to you. He will deceive you. He will do everything in his power to make you doubt the Word of God. But one thing is certain: you are going to die and be judged by the Word of God. Where would you say you are? Have you trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? Maybe you don't understand everything. Maybe you don't understand everything that happened on the cross. Maybe you don't understand everything that happened in the empty tomb. But do you believe the truth of God's Word? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, surrendering yourself to Him and you will have the gift of eternal life.

Do you believe it enough to live by it? That's the key. Do you believe in God's Word enough to live by it? When you answer that question, you will know whether you believe in God's Word or not. Amen? And Father, we thank you because you clarified the Word of God. You have exposed the devil as the liar that he is. You have shown us the Lord Jesus Christ to show us the truth that He is and that He embodies. And that all our hope and help, and our way of life, is found in Him. And Lord, I pray that every person who hears this message will recognize that one day they will stand before You and then they will know for sure that You were telling the truth .

But for some people it's too late. Thank you for your word. Thank you for Your promise and thank you for the power to live by it every day, is our prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.