Satan's Subtility 2 022221

[background music] Mimo, mimo, mimo l'Oluwa. Olodumare, Olodumare, Olodumare. Iyin ye o, ogo ye o, ope ye o. Jesu Kristi Olugbala, Oba iye o. E se, o se, o se, o se. Church and fellowships cannot be more spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God greatly desires a godly home for these words of restoration and instruction in righteousness from Family Tent Ministry. May you be blessed as you listen. [Speaker 1] Now, we were looking last week at the subtlety of Satan. And before I move on for me to bring it to a close, if anybody has one or two lessons, something that was learned that they want to say from last week’s teaching? Is there anybody that wants to say something particular about maybe you learned something, maybe you came to understanding of something and you want to share it with us? Is there anybody before I move on? Okay, no. Any other person? Why people are still... maybe I should move on. Okay. Praise the Lord. Let's go to Genesis 3. The subtlety of Satan. Our major point last week was that in talking about the fall of man, the first thing Heaven wanted us to see was that Satan was very, very subtle. Satan was very, very subtle. That was the first thing. In discussing the fall of man, the Bible says, "Now the serpent was cunning." And we emphasized that last week. In understanding when we're talking about the subtlety of Satan, the Bible makes us to see that Satan is indeed a subtle being, a subtle entity. Be as wise as serpents. That was our first emphasis last week. The second emphasis we emphasized last week is that about being subtle or being cunning, the Bible relates that to the fall of man. Then the second thing we emphasized was that we should bear in mind that Adam and Eve were not conceived in sin the way we are conceived in sin. Yet the subtlety of Satan was able to get at them. The third thing that was very, very crucial to us that we discussed last week is that the Bible wanted us to see that our warfare is against the wiles of the devil. We can see that the Bible wants us to know that if we are not prepared to face the subtlety of Satan, then we will be gotten by the enemy. So today, I want to quickly conclude it for us to be able to pray. We want to take time to really pray. Now, let's see Genesis 3 from verse 1. Genesis 3:1-7 "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Has God indeed said, "You shall not eat of every tree of the garden"?' And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, "You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die."' Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.' So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings." Now, when you look at that verse 4 and 5, "Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die.'" He spoke with assurance. "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." If you look at that scripture very closely, three things were said. He gave an assurance. The first one was an assurance. What is the assurance? "You will not die." That affirmative statement. He now went on to say, "Look, God knows that in the day you eat this thing, your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good from evil." Now, Satan making that assurance, I want us to look at it. They will not die. Is that a truth or a lie? Of course, it's a lie. They will die. Now he said they will not die. Rather, what will happen is that their eyes will be opened. Now, if they eat that thing, will their eyes be opened? So is that a lie? No, it's a truth. The truth is that if they eat it, their eyes will be opened. It's a truth. If they eat it, their eyes will be opened. Number two, he said if they eat it, they will become like God. Is that a lie? It's not a lie. They will become like God. We will see it. He was also telling them the truth. Genesis 3:22 "Then the Lord God said, 'Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—'" Do you see the point? So when Satan said you will become like God, knowing good from evil, he was also telling them the truth. But what I want us to look at this evening is that three things Satan said: they will not die, their eyes will be opened, they will be like God, knowing good from evil. The only one that is an outright lie is "they will not die." But look at it. What Satan took, the working of Satan in that place is about a reality that is different from the reality of God. A reality. When they eat that thing, their eyes will be opened. When they eat that thing, they will become like God, knowing good from evil. But the reality is that they are dead. So what actually did Satan take away from a discussion with them? He took away the reality of the matter. The reality. That is what I mean by the subtlety of Satan. An exchange of a reality that is outside what is reality from God's point of view. Satan creates a reality. "Look, you are not dead. You are alive. Your eyes are opened. You have become like God. It's a new normal. You are not dead. You are alive." But in the real sense, is the person not dead? The person is dead. When the man says, "Oh, look, dance, dance, dance and forget your sorrow," it looks like it's a wise decision that once he dances and get drunk, his sorrow will be gone. But what is the reality? By the time the alcohol leaves his eyes, his sorrow will still be waiting for him if the sorrow has not multiplied. Of course, their eyes opened. But the reality is that they have died. Yet their eyes have opened. We think we understand, but what we call understanding, if it is different from the wisdom of God, we see that it is foolishness. What you are calling wisdom, what man describes as wisdom, what man eventually calls, "this is the reality," and that is what I want you to see. When you look around us today, what the enemy keeps doing over and over and over and over is this matter: making death as real as life to man. Death is captured as if it is life, and man begins to walk in another reality. Different from the reality of God. That is the deadness of man. The Bible says the woman looked at the fruit and she saw that the fruit can make one to be wise. Genesis 3:6 "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate." Brethren, are you following me? "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food." Number two, "that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise." Do you see this? Look at chapter 2. I just want to draw your attention to something. Chapter 2 where the Lord was busy making and creating those things. Genesis 2:8-9 "The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." So how many trees were pleasant to the sight and good for food? Every tree. So when the woman said that I now saw that it was good for food, it was pleasant for this, what special thing was she saying? Because everything that was there before, they were pleasant, they were good for food. And this one too, they were just part of it. So if you now go back to that chapter 3, it says, "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food," just like every other tree. The man has his wife at home, then Satan says, "Don't you see that woman? Better than your wife." And the man now saw that that one is better than this one. Is there anything about the sex with that one and the sex with this one? No difference. I'm trying to make you understand some very, very serious issue about when I'm talking about subtlety of Satan. An exchange of a reality that is outside what is reality from God's point of view. Satan creates a reality. "Look, you are not dead. You are alive. You are not dead. You are alive. Your eyes are opened. You've become like God. It's a new normal. You are not dead. You are alive." But in the real sense, is the person not dead? The person is dead. Of course, their eyes opened, but the reality is that they have died. We think we understand, but what we call understanding, if it is different from the wisdom of God, we see that it is foolishness. What you are calling wisdom, what man describes as wisdom, what man eventually calls, "this is the reality," and that is what I want you to see. When you look around us today, what the enemy keeps doing over and over and over and over is this matter. Making death as real as life to man. Death is captured as if it is life, and man begins to walk in another reality. Different from the reality of God. That is the deadness of man. We want to take time to pray. Today's our last Monday of the month of February. And I want to make sure that we are praying. The first prayer point that I want us to pray and talk to the Lord about for our life is this scripture. Genesis 3:13 "And the Lord God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?' The woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate.'" The serpent deceived me. Everywhere there is deception. For the enemy to operate, there must be deception. If there is no deception, Satan cannot work. If Satan is going to work, deception must be there. So we want to begin from there. He said, "Satan deceived me." I want you to begin from that point. Lord, grant light. In every area of my life, grant that I will consistently walk in the light. That I will walk in the light of truth. There is a light of truth. Lord, in all my journey, as long as Satan cannot deceive, if there is no deception, the devil cannot work. As long as there is truth, there cannot be bondage. There cannot be deception. For Satan to operate, there must be deception. I want you to pray that God, in all my steppings, in everything, deliver me from the deception that is in the mouth of the wicked. Particularly this end time. Lord, the light of truth. Walking in the light of truth. In all my stepping, let me walk in the light of truth. I want you to see Proverbs chapter 6. Proverbs 6:12-14 "A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth. He winks with his eyes, he shuffles his feet, he points with his fingers; perversity is in his heart, he devises evil continually, he sows discord." I want you to pray. Lord, from the perversity of the mouth of the wicked in all my endeavors in life, deliver me. From the perversity of the mouth of the wicked. Lord, deliver me. There are perverse women. There are perverse men. There are perverse pastors. There are perverse prophets. There are perverse colleagues, neighbors, fellow workers. They are there. They are everywhere. Sisters, brothers, different kinds of people as we move through. We are taking a stand against the enemy and against the agents of the enemy. Jesus was speaking about the Pharisees. He says, "You are of your father the devil, for he was the one who told lies at the beginning." You see, Satan has a lot of children. Children of perverse mouth. They are everywhere. They walk like their father. They deceive you in business. They deceive you in marriage. They deceive you in career. They deceive you in relationship. Deliver me from the tongue of such people. Deliver me from their tongues. Deliver me from the perversity in the mouth of the wicked. People that will be smiling at you, but inside them they have drawn a sword of war. They are smiling, but inside them they have drawn a sword of war. They are just looking for a pit that you will fall into, and yet they will be smiling at you. There are also children of the devil. Deliver me from the mouth of such people. I want us to pray again. David and Uriah. David slept with Bathsheba, and he needed to cover the matter. So he sent for Uriah. And he was telling Uriah to go home, go and sleep, go and enjoy yourself. But you know it was a deception. You will find a similar thing. Satan entered into Peter and he was trying to get at Jesus. But what did Jesus say? "Get thee behind me, Satan." Sometimes Satan doesn't use the person who is wicked. He uses a believer. When a believer is careless, he can become an instrument in the hand of Satan against another believer. Peter was careless. Look at how Satan used David against Uriah. David became a deceiver, a schemer like Satan. But something delivered Uriah: integrity of heart. Uriah said, "Ah! The ark of God is in the field. My master Joab is also there. I cannot go and sleep with my wife." He thought he was just being faithful to the ark. He didn't know he was being delivered from a trap. I want you to pray. Lord, deliver me by the integrity of my heart. Lord, when the wicked assails against me, against your purpose for my life, against your intention for my life, deliver me by the integrity of my heart. Help me to walk in integrity of truth. I want us to go to the book of John. That will be our last prayer point. John 6:37-44 "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. This is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all that he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up on the last day. And this is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day." The Bible says, "Mark the perfect, behold the upright. The end of that man is peace." "For I know the thoughts that I have towards you, not of evil, to give you a hope and a future." One thing I want you to know is that you cannot be ashamed at last. The will of the Father is that everybody that comes to Jesus through Him, at last he will raise them up. I want you to pray. Jesus is talking about your ultimate end. See, the plan of God is so solid. Speak to your life. You are ending well. You are finishing well. Because of the hand of the Lord. It is the will of God. It doesn't matter how life wants to turn. It is well with me. I am finishing well. I am ending well. Ultimately I will smile. Ultimately I will laugh. Ultimately. There's an ultimate plan of God for my life. There is an ultimate will of God. He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world. [Sings] Unto thee, O Lord, Do I lift up my soul. Unto thee, O Lord, Do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee, Let me not be ashamed, Let not my enemies triumph over me. I want us to go to Psalm 25. "Unto you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You. Let me not be ashamed. Let not my enemies triumph over me. Indeed, let no one who waits on you be ashamed. Let those be ashamed who deal falsely without cause." I'm taking the prayer from verse 3. I want you to pray that prayer. Lord, let no one who waits on You be ashamed. As I stand in the truth, I will not be ashamed. As I remain in the truth, as I walk in the truth, as I live by the truth, I shall not be ashamed that wait for the Lord. Thank you, Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Heavenly Father, we are grateful unto You. Thank You again for what You have done in our lives. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for we have no doubt that all that we have asked tonight we receive in Jesus' name. Lord, it shall be unto us according to Your word in the mighty name of Jesus. Lord, help us even as in our sojourn to remain in the truth. Help us not to fall for the trick, for the camouflage, for every lies of the enemy in different ways. Help us to know it and to flee from them all in Jesus' name. Father, as we go let Your presence go with us. In Jesus' name we pray. The grace. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forevermore. Amen. [Speaker 2] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in reaching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission hit. Our regular activities are discipleship class every Monday, 5:00 PM; Adolescents and Singles' Club every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; Marriage Forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; family life seminars; regular school outreaches; and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location: Life Camp by the first bridge, Elere community, opposite Very Joy filling station along Ijele Road, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.