The Enemy of the Soul: The Devil

well hello hello everybody welcome once again to cornerstone apostolic church midweek online bible study so honored and thrilled that you have joined with us here in this study great day to serve the lord great day to know him and to learn more about him tonight in this study we're going to continue uh where we have been studying about the enemy of the soul several things that war and fight against us as christians as individuals as men women and children so we're going to continue that study tonight first of all we're going to pray together ask for the hand of the lord to be here in our study time and to give us revelation of what we need to understand in the word of god pray with me would you jesus we love you today we're thankful lord for the power of the cross for the spirit of god that makes a difference in our lives daily thank you for the word for the bible god that changes us thank you lord for our time together in the word lord let us understand and comprehend us we pray for wisdom for knowledge and understanding that we may hear the word of the lord and apply it to our lives every day we love you jesus and we thank you we honor you lord please god be with us tonight in jesus name we pray amen all right well uh just a quick overview from the past couple of lessons we first talked about the enemy of the soul uh we talked about the flesh and how that this flesh uh what we carry around if you will every day is something that we have to uh work on continuously we have to allow our minds and our our hearts and um our actions and attitudes to be put in check so that we can be what god wants us to be every day so the enemy one enemy of the soul is our flesh the second one we talked about if you'll recall last week the enemy of the soul would be the world and that is where you live your day-to-day actions and activities the people you hang around with your ups downs everything that is about you or about me that's an enemy sometimes and it can cause great confusion and distractions and it can cause us to miss out on many things you know the world can get us twisted up and sideways if you will on things and it is up to us to recognize the flesh can war against us and the world can war against us uh in this study i want to continue on and we're going to talk about enemy of the soul being the devil okay uh deep and why this subject so we're we're going to hit some some very important highlights so that we can better understand what the devil satan if you will what he is doing to try to war against us as christians and to try to defeat us in the power of the presence and plan of god for our lives we're going to read out of first peter chapter number 5 first peter chapter five i'll read two verses eight and nine first peter five verse number eight says be sober and vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devoured notice what it says whom resists to steadfast in the faith knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world okay um indication here is that the enemy the devil is warring against everybody how's that um now his origin and where he came from you can study and read about in old testament days he's the adversary he's lucifer slew foot whatever you want to call him his origin where he began the whole reason he is if you will is he was indeed an angel and his purpose by god was to be the worship leader if you will around the throne now uh he of course if you'll study the scripture tonight we don't have time to go into the exact details but study the scriptures about lucifer about the devil satan and you'll find that uh he began to lift himself up he began instead of giving all the glory to praise honor and worship to god he began to receive it unto himself from the ones who were doing the worshiping and we know that god himself is a jealous god he doesn't have any other gods before him not allowed not permitted he won't allow it now you can live your life do what you do have a thousand gods if you want to it's just he won't be first in your life if you've got other things you're worshiping god won't be there okay he has to be number one in your life the devil knows this and so he wars against humanity against the mind and the flesh and the desires of man because if he can like he did the angels in that day if he can confuse and confound and he can cause them to worship him and him accept that as opposed to them worshiping and giving it up unto god then he can twist it and according to the scriptures he was cast like lightning out of heaven and the bible does refer also that he took one third of the angels with him now uh that's a lot it doesn't give a quantity of millions or trillions or or three that simply gives a third as as a a reference uh the power and potential that the devil has is very real do not be do not be deceit the enemy of your soul the devil has a lot of sticking power to simply do do push pull devour kill whatever he's doing he is constantly and consistently doing that now several things that we have to understand as men and women and young people and children satan is is a lot of things number one is he is the tempter matthew talks about that he tempts people he throws temptations in their way he also according to john he's a liar he lies it's it's his makeup it's his character he's the accuser he tries to thwart the price that was paid of blood of jesus on calvary and he accuses people of of their past and their failures and faults so he's called the accuser out of job mentions that revelation does as well he's also the hinderer he hinders people he hinders situations thessalonians the first letter talks about how he hinders things he he throws blocks in the way he keeps it from happening and moving in fluid emotion he also according to the letter to corinth in the second letter there in second corinthians it's called him the god of the world meaning that he has imminence he's got he's got a way to rule the things the actions and activities of a man here of the world he's also the deceiver he deceives he he he causes people to believe wrong things he twists and he turns promises and in the presence of god and he he can deceive people into thinking and wondering and fabricating issues and problems and and he will deceive people to not believe in the promises of god in the word of god but yet he can deceive people to believe the lies that he tries to tries to drum up if you will also in first peter he's referred to as the adversary okay he's constantly working against the things of god and in psalms he is called the destroyer he has the ability to tear up things destroy things make a mess out of people's lives family after family wherever you are right now in your home on your job wherever you're in your vehicle wherever you are somebody to the left or right of you is facing issues and possible destruction by the enemy because their lives are full of issues and problems and they're not allowing the promises in the word of god to lift them up and give them strength to override if you will overrule and overcome the things of the enemy now um satan if you will the one who wars against you uh he's called a lot of things in the scriptures but also you can interchange lucifer the drag caller dragon in many cases satan serpent adversary devil wicked one none of these terms if you'll notice that i've mentioned are pleasant or positive terms none of them uh they are all simply for the means of destruction the means to make people lose out to to wash out if you will with the plan and the power and purpose of god in their lives okay that is the war that's going on the enemy of your soul the devil lucifer the adversary uh whatever you want to refer to him as um he is trying all that he can to do one thing is to bring fear and destruction and dismay into your life he's trying his best to cause you to forget or to not know the promises that are in the word of god trying to confuse people he's trying to lie to folk and get them to believe things that are not biblically sound teachings okay first peter calls him a lion a roaring lion a loud mouth lion if you will uh he's seeking whom he can devour walking about just all intent to destroy people and wreak of fear and havoc in their lives um the uh there's several other things you can call he's an angel of light he's got the ability to illuminate things in a negative way and to cause things to to be illuminated that that no one needs to see or know that's what lies are about we understand that uh when someone tells a lie what they're doing is confusing the honest truth the lights begin to come on and now things that were never even meant to be or fabricated then the enemy begins to compromise if you will a person's ability to believe and have faith in the promises in the word of god now ephesians i'm going to read a verse there ephesians chapter 4 notice something here that is written this is a letter that was written by the hand of paul to the church at ephesus note notice here what said in ephesians chapter 4 verse number 27. the bible says this neither give place to the devil don't give a place to the devil when you give a place to the devil what you are doing is you are pulling down your strong tower your ability to defeat and defend yourself to defeat him and to defend what you are who you are as a child of god if you give him a place he will take it he will come in and he will begin his process of destruction and devouring and lying and deceiving that's what he does many things that he does of course are just through thoughts and imaginations the brain the mind of humanity is so very incredibly powerful you can think yourself out of many situations you notice that you can have the worst of days change your mind and things change it's the power of positive thinking it's referred to in the business world it's the ability to think things that said the enemy knows that and he can come in with imaginations in your mind twist promises and twist things events that's going on and in doing so he can wreak fear in your life he can unfold disaster in your life and you simply may or may not be strong enough to handle that and so then you begin to let down and the next thing you know is you have been deceived and you have believed a lie and now your thoughts and imaginations run wild truth of the matter is that satan can put thoughts in your head yes he can satan can develop things you can cause your mind to open to stuff and and things he can cause you to think and remember years and years ago things that went on he can bring him back to your memory and that crazy how that works uh by just triggering things that just triggering the things of the past and when you begin to think and dwell on those things the thing is is that what satan cannot do is make you act on those thoughts or imaginations he can't he can't say okay that's what you're going to do is a b and c no he he can cause a thought or a memory to come back if you will he can even take the sin that you have yet to deal with and he can bring that back to you and he can torment you with it he's got the ability to make your mind run in circles if you will that's why that every christian has to learn the power of spiritual cleanliness in your mind being clean in your mind daily maybe hourly maybe minute by minute you have to breathe that name jesus reestablish when the thoughts and the intentions and things that the enemy is trying to do to you you've got to clean that up and you've got to put it in its place okay now notice here another new testament verse i want to mention to you here how to overcome the attacks the power the things of the enemy the book of james chapter number four i want to read to you verse number seven if i could this would be a great chapter for you to study on your own submit yourselves therefore to god verse 7 says james chapter 4 resist the devil and he will flee from you you can put the devil in motion okay when you submit to god you submit to his word you submit to his promises you submit to his authority you submit to his plan and purpose you submit to the things that he desires for your life meaning if he wants you to be successful in what you're doing you submit to that and you learn you yield you begin to do what he is leading and guiding you to do if you'll submit yourself to god and then resist the devil stay steadfast in the faith in the things that god is doing and god is telling you to do and then something powerful happens the enemy decides at that point i have no way to get through here so he will flee he will back away he will run away from and in that as you grow as a christian day in day out week and month and year in year out your experiences with the power of the protection of the spirit of god can cause you to trust and to believe in god more and more therefore when you submit to what god's doing to his word and authority and you resist and you push back against it and put him in his place no devil you're not going to do that to me you can stand upon that promise that the devil will flee from you knowing that how do we resist that how can we stand afirm and in our hearts and in our minds and our spirits know that we know that god has indeed given us victory over whatever the enemy is trying to do against us first of all we need to learn how to use our spiritual weapons okay we need to learn how to use our spiritual weapons how that we can pray against the devil now that we can believe in our whole heart and faith in god and that can trump the voice of devil that's trying to to yell and scream into our lives we can use spiritual weapons of prayer we can use spiritual weapons of of of learning how to fast learning the power of speaking and praying the word and singing the word okay that's how you resist also when you pray and fast you are doing something to yourself in yourself that the enemy can't fight against because we know and understand that when you communicate with god when you deny yourself you are putting yourself into a place where the spirit of god can move and work in your life okay resist the devil you'll use spiritual weapons and praying fast also understand the word of god lord you said it in your word and this is why i believe it therefore devil you have no place here because this is what the bible says use the word of god this bible is full of promises and precepts and and principles that you can learn and learn how to apply to your life in resisting the devil you may have to bring out the big word of god and simply speak that word that's already been spoken and given to us the enemy knows the word yes he does and he'll flee he'll walk he'll back away from you because a child of god has power to push him back all right also we are reminded in ephesians chapter 6 that we have a powerful powerful thing called the armor of god the whole army the head the breastplate the the loins the the feet the shield we've got a sword we've got these things that have been given to us as children of god and with that when we learn how to use the breastplate of righteousness when we learn how to understand the the shield of faith when we learn to understand what it takes in the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit we learn how these things work through our experiences and our trying and are are just making ourselves available to god god through that armor protects you because the the reference here according to ephesians 6 is there are fiery darts of the enemy things that are trying to break through that armor and trying to break you down and bring you to a point to where you suffer and that things can can cause you to have fear and you can be discouraged in the things of god that armor is there to protect you against that now our whole lesson tonight and i'll bring it to a close spiritual failure is not is not a result of improper or unavailable weapons we have what we need in our supply list and that is the things of god and what we have to understand tonight and the enemy of the soul the flesh the world and the devil they have a big job to do okay and all humanity fights and battles and wars with these things but if we learn and fall in love with the principles and precepts of the word let god's spirit be entertained in us constant lord i love you i need you pray the word pray the spirit uh pray without ceasing he tells the church of thessalonica keep that prayer momentum going that word of god and the spiritual things of god moving in your life when you do that then although the devil is the enemy of the soul the world is the enemy of the soul the flesh is the enemy of the soul when we do what god is telling us to do we follow the word of god we can be victorious through the word and through the things of god i want to encourage all of you tonight all of you right now watching and participating in this bible study get your bibles out pray the word understand the word yield and submit yourself to the word let the word of god let the spirit of god at the promises of god unfold in you and be activated let's pray together please lord i know that that we're in a war we're in a battlefield and every day lord there are things that war against us our minds our spirits our hearts our our desires every day lord there's things challenges opposition lord that we face but i believe that the flesh and the world and the devil can be dealt with through your promise through your word through your spirit pray lord that all of us will be strengthened by that we would understand and comprehend that you want us to be overcomers and you want us to be victorious through you plead your blood lord over each one of us tonight bless every home every heart every individual let us trust you and in everything let us give you thanks we love you believe in you and honor you in the name of jesus we pray amen i love you guys i thank you so much for joining us please take time to come worship with us on sundays 11 o'clock sunday school uh 12 o'clock worship time 42.95 cromwell road suite 412 come and be with us in service love to see you you can also go to cac chattanooga.org our website and find more information love you guys have a great week until next time god bless