“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
2 Corinthians 4:1-6
• It is possible for the Word of God to be handled deceitfully.
• Your beliefs establish your actions.
• The way you act comes from your belief system
• You cannot believe something and then act differently. This is a misconception.
• The enemy’s objective is to keep us in darkness.
“And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”
Colossians 2:4,8
• Satan’s method is to deceive us when it comes to God’s word but John 10:10 declares that Jesus gives us life more abundantly.
“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:”
Genesis 3:1-4
• These verses give exposure to the enemy’s operation from the very beginning.
• The enemy came to Eve in the form of a serpent. Revelation 12:9, refers to when he was cast out of Heaven and is called the serpent.
• Satan’s 1st recorded words in the Bible were bringing God’s word into question.
• The base fear of all fears is that you can’t trust God
• Eve heard God’s command about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil second hand from Adam, so, the enemy tried her.
• When questioned, Eve left out a very important part of what God said. He said that if they ate of the tree they would surely die but Eve’s account was, “lest you die” Genesis 2:17
• We cannot build our life on the foundation of where we think something may be in the Bible. We need to know where it is. Satan knows the word. It is time out for: “doesn’t it say somewhere in the bible?”!
• The way God teaches us knowledge is to point us to the word, line upon line, precept upon precept. This is how you gain truth. “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:” Isaiah 28:10
• “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16 – in this passage, God was sending a message that the gospel is not just for the jew but for the Greek also. This means that the gospel is for the believer, the unbeliever, and all people everywhere.
• Do not take God’s word out of context. When you take the “text” out of context, what you have left is a “con”.
“Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.”
Matthew 4:1-2,4-10
• The are 4,000 years of human history between Genesis and Matthew. Satan tempted Eve in the garden. Lets see if his method changes in 4000 years.
• Satan was tempting Jesus to commit suicide by quoting Psalm 91:11. Jesus replied with the Word.
• All three times the enemy came to Him, He responded with the word. After Jesus stood on the word, Satan left him (verse 11).
• Bondage, captivity p.g no knowledge (ref the scripture)
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Romans 12:2
• We are either in the world or of the world
• God has a plan for our lives and Satan opposes that plan.
• If we came from monkeys, why are there still monkeys on earth?
• If you judge a man by the color of his skin, you’ve judged him by something that he had no control over.
• Creation is challenged in schools where evolution is taught as a belief system instead of the truth.
• Marriage & gender are challenged through homosexuality and alternative lifestyles.
• Reproduction is challenged through abortion.
• Wicked means twisted. It is where the word wicker (as in wicker basket) comes from. This is what the enemy’s agenda is, to twist and pervert all that God has done and said.
• The enemy used the woman to bring sin into the world but the Lord used the woman to bring the Savior into the world.
• The first to get the announcement that Jesus was coming were the lowest of the low, the despised, the shepherds. This was a sign to show that the Savior was for all.